Sudden Stork
by Ruphira
Summary: Nobody seems to know where the small baby on Claire's doorstep came from, but suddenly, it becomes her responsibility to care for. Things just go from bad to worse for the farmer when she learns the baby carries baggage nobody counted on - as does she.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I wanted to write a MFoMT fic, but I just couldn't decide how to spice it up…until I came up with this. Hehe. I hope you enjoy it! :3**

*****EDIT: Rearranged and rewrote a few things—in terms of plot, this is completely unchanged; I just added some dialogue and cut out some unnecessary things to make it flow better. I'm still not a huge fan of this first chapter, but it is what it is. Thanks! *****

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harvest Moon.**

..::::..

Smudged in soot and mine dust, Claire—resident disgruntled farmer of Mineral Town—dragged herself exhaustedly through the yellow-patched grass bordering her field to her farmhouse. Visions of money signs, brand-new rice balls and more flour danced through her head and she was thrilled to make it to her shipping box to triumphantly empty her rucksack inside. With a resounding _thunk_, her spoils clattered into the otherwise empty bin. She placed her hands on her hips and breathed a heavy sigh of satisfaction—not bad for a day's work!

Then, she did a double take. _Empty_? Since when was her shipping box _empty? _She distinctly remembered stuffing it with wild grasses early that morning! Rolling her filthy flannel sleeve back to check the time, her jaw dropped when she realized it was exactly 5:01. Oh, _nooo…_

"ZACK!" she shrieked, sprinting towards the farm entrance—but the shipper had already been and gone, probably shaking his head in disappointment at her pathetic shipment offerings. He already chided her for not selling more "farm-y" things, like milk or decent crops. She did sometimes ship crops, but her yield was unpredictable and often forgettable. Try as she might, Claire didn't have her mother's green thumb.

The farmer groaned in frustration and pulled the burlap bag of ores out of the box to see the little coin purse sitting at the bottom. Popping it open, she cringed inwardly at the meagre sum—so much for fresh rice balls and flour. And on top of that…

"Great. Just great. There's a freaking festival tomorrow, and then it's the supermarket's normal day off…" That meant she'd be eating foraged grasses or the odd berry for breakfast tomorrow…and the next day…instead of a more human-friendly meal.

She stood outside her house and let the setting sun's heat wash over her, drying the sweat on her clothes and the dirt caked on her body into a grimy, flaking mess. She contemplated heading back to the hot springs to wash up, but the trip just seemed too far so she settled for wading into the cold fish pond she filled her watering can from.

Claire quickly rinsed her hair and shook it out, shivering from the cold, and quickly scrambled out again. She wrinkled her nose and barely concealed a shudder; good thing nobody lived within smelling range of the farm. _Nothing like the reek of a sweaty miner after bathing in a fish pond. _

Carelessly, she tossed her soaking clothes across a makeshift clothesline she'd strung with fishing line before ducking into her house. Throwing on an old fleece nightgown, she clambered into the ratty bed and sighed deeply. It felt heavenly to rest her aching body, even on the bumpy, stiff old straw mattress she'd been given.

..::::..

Claire gasped loudly and stared up at the spinning ceiling, waiting for her pounding heartbeat to return to normal and grateful she'd been able to wrench herself out of the nightmare when she did. She wearily forced her sweat-drenched body to swing around and sat on the edge of the bed, massaging her face.

It was one of the same old four or five nightmares, nothing new. One of the relatively better ones in fact. Slipping off the nightgown and into a clean-ish work shirt, she wandered over to the kitchen and scrounged half-heartedly for something to eat. The only thing she was well-stocked in was tomato seed, which she had accidentally bought an abundance of after a small typhoon earlier in the season. Turning away from the cupboard, she sighed—and that's when she heard the baby crying.

Claire frowned and shook her head to rid herself of the noise, but it didn't seem to help. It was weird, because she usually only had this strange, ear-ringing symptom after the especially bad nightmares, maybe twice a week.

The farmer took a deep drink of cool water to clear her head, but the crying persisted. She tried to ignore it, knowing it usually went away after a few minutes. Quickly she pulled on a pair of equally clean-ish overalls to match the top and threw open the door to greet the day.

The wailing of the baby was now unbearably and puzzlingly loud and immediate. Confused, Claire glanced down….

…to find an actual, completely and totally real infant lying on her doorstep, bawling its tiny lungs out.

Claire stumbled backward in shock. "Oh my Goddess!" she blurted out before scooping the child up and trying to rock it to sleep, or into being calm, or into silence, or _something_. Meanwhile, her panicked mind raced with what she should do next and conflicted with blatant incredulity. _Who would leave a poor defenseless baby out here on its own? AND WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO NOW?_

The Doctor. The doctor would know what to do, or could at least give it a check-up to make sure it wasn't going to die of a deadly disease or anything. He was closed today for the Fireworks Festival, but if she pounded on his door and sounded hysterical enough, he would probably let her in.

A clean-ish flannel shirt lay crumpled on the ground. Claire scooped it up and bundled the baby up in it, who was only wearing a dirty yellow, one-piece jumper. Its wailing decreased to pitiful sobs as it clamped on tightly to her shirt. _Don't panic and stop freaking out. Just run it to the doctor, he'll know what to do. They'll find the parents and then this whole disaster will be over._

Claire slipped her boots on and threw a coat over her shoulders to disguise the child before making a mad dash down the street, clutching the baby securely to her chest.

"Hi Claire," Rick called as she dashed by the chicken farm. "What's u—"

"Hi! Talk to you later, Rick!" the farmer managed to call back, not lingering long enough for him to finish his sentence. The blond man watched her disappear down the path and slowly shook his head at her retreating back.

_Hm. That went well. Maybe this doesn't look as weird as it feels_, she thought hopefully as she blasted past the Inn and failed to notice Ann calling out to her. _I mean, I am just running through town after all._

"What do you think's gotten into that girl?" Duke asked his wife thoughtfully, leaning out over the vineyard fence to watch the blonde speed away and make a sharp turn on the far side of the Inn. "She completely ignored my greeting."

Manna only shrugged. "That's not your business, dear."

"I don't want to hear that from _you_," her husband scoffed.

Farther north, Claire was panting heavily in the heavy summer sun as she skidded to a stop in front of the Clinic and proceeded wham on the locked door with one first. "Doctor! Elli! I need you guys to open up! Please!" She continued pounding. "GUYS! COME ON, THIS IS URGENT!"

Muffled yelling from the other side of the door. Claire stilled her hand and waited patiently as she heard a key twist in the lock, and after what seemed like an eternity, the pristine white-painted door swung open. Doctor stood in the doorway, his lab coat thrown on over what looked like pajamas, and regarded her blearily. "Yes…..?"

"Doctor! Ah, did I wake you up? I'm sorry, but I just really need to—well, it's not a health concern, but—it's…well, I have to show you, but—"

"Come on in…" Without bothering to address her ramblings, he gestured for her to follow him, and she meekly stepped in after him to the darkened foyer. Elli, in a housecoat and loose curlers, flicked a switch on and blinked at the farmer sleepily. The doctor led her into the examination room, sat her down on the rigid chair, and collapsed into the chair behind his desk. He rubbed his forehead tiredly for a second before looking back up. "Now, what's the problem?... You realize today's a festival day, don't you?"

"Yes, I do. And this is the problem!" Claire shrugged her coat off and let it fell to the floor in a heap to reveal her "problem". Doctor's eyes widened at the bundle in her arms, and he opened and closed his mouth several times without being able to think of anything to say.

Elli bustled in, now dressed in her usual frilly nurse uniform and carrying a clipboard. She took one look at the doctor's face and glanced at Claire. Her clipboard clattered to the floor.

"Did you—have that when you—?" the doctor began, flabbergasted.

"CLAIRE!" shrieked Elli. "I didn't know you were pregnant! WHY DIDN'T YOU CALL US FOR THE DELIVERY? _WHO'S THE FATHER_?"

"It's not mine!" Claire shouted over the mania. "I found it on my doorstep this morning, and I didn't know what to do, so I brought it to you guys! Please help me!"

"Oh," the nurse murmured sheepishly.

Doctor swiftly took action, standing up and holding out his hands. "Really…so you don't know whose it is or where it came from? Interesting." With a shake of her head, Claire placed the now sleeping baby in his arms. The physician made it halfway out of the room before the infant began squalling and wailing anew.

He panicked. "Elli!"

The nurse quickly ran to help him and scooped the baby out of his arms. "There there, cutie," she cooed softly, rocking the child in her arms. The baby only screamed louder, thrashing—and the nurse was soon on the verge of panic too. "Ahh! Claaaaiiireee!"

"_What_?" cried Claire. "I don't—I can't—"

Too late. Elli dumped the baby back in the farmer's lap, and almost instantly, he or she stopped crying and began sucking contentedly on Claire's thumb. It was almost a sweet, motherly moment, except for the part when Claire looked up imploringly at the medical team before her. "Help me!"

"I guess you'll just have to hold him—or her," the doctor sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Follow me. What gender is it, anyway?"

"I don't have the faintest idea," Claire moaned from behind him as she fell into step. "Is there anyone around here who might've had a baby?"

"Not that I know of," he replied.

"But then again, if one of the unmarried girls was pregnant, she'd want to keep it a secret," Elli whispered conspiratorially.

"Yeah, except we'd probably have noticed," the doctor answered before turning to Claire. "That's kind of a difficult thing to hide. Place it on the table, please."

Claire obediently rested the baby down on the examination table, suddenly worried. "You're just going to make sure it's healthy, right? You're not going to give it a needle or hurt it?"

"Wouldn't dream of it," Doctor replied, his back to her as he mixed something. "I'll be done shortly. In the meantime, you can wait in the waiting room."

"Okay," the farmer said uncertainly. She went back out to the lobby and sat uncomfortably on the hard-backed, plastic chairs, crossing and uncrossing her legs. The next five minutes seemed like five hours to the confused, disoriented and stressed girl, but finally Doctor came back out followed by the baby-cuddling nurse.

"Congratulations, it's a boy!" he said, clapping her on the shoulder in a feigned jovial manner. Claire smiled tiredly and swatted his hand away.

"Yes, very funny. Is he healthy though?"

"Looks to be in tip-top shape," chirped Elli cheerfully before dumping the baby back in the farmer's lap.

"Oh good," sighed Claire in visible relief. She cradled him carefully and stood up. "So…what should I do now?"

Elli shrugged. "We'll just have to spread the word."

"If nobody comes forward, will you keep him?" the doctor asked pointedly. Claire blanked.

"Uhh—well—I don't know," she blubbered. She wasn't a "baby person"—not the kind of girl who was good with children or had any natural maternal instincts to speak of. She was the kind of person that panicked when babies started to cry and gagged at the sight of dirty diapers; and anyway, even if she wanted to, she couldn't. As it was, she could barely look out for number one at this point in her life, so how could she ever care for a _baby _of all things? Seemingly to remind her of her priorities, her stomach growled loudly and she smiled in embarrassment. "What I do know is I can barely feed myself, so I don't know how I'd be able to feed another mouth."

Without replying, the doctor rooted around in his pockets before pulling up a handful of crumpled bills. He turned them over, calculating, and then offered them to Claire.

She stared at them, uncomprehending, until she clued in. "No! No, I'm not a _charity case_, for crying out loud! I'll find something to eat!"

He sighed patiently. "Claire, it's for a cow. Give someone some milk, they drink for a day; buy them a cow, they drink until….um….the cow dies…?"

"And then they can eat it for supper!" Elli added excitedly. Both the doctor and Claire flinched at that last comment, but the farmer still shook her head and backed away at the money.

"Thank you, but I really don't intend to keep the baby."

"So, then you have a cow to yourself," the doctor answered gruffly. "Just _take _it."

"Fine. I'll owe you." She awkwardly accepted and pocketed the cash before looking around uneasily. "Um…thanks for all your advice and everything. I guess I'll be going now…"

"Yep! Go get yourself prettified for the festival!" Elli giggled, pushing her towards the door. "Not that you're not already pretty! I just want you and your date to have the best time ever!"

"I don't have a date!" Claire whined, and then looked down at the baby in her arms. "Well, I guess I do now."

"Well, go get one, tiger!" Elli said, playfully hip-checking the farmer out the door. "Rawr!"

"Elli, what the heck happened to you?" demanded Claire as the clinic door closed. "_Wow_." She readjusted the baby to rest braced against her hip and began making her way towards Barley's farm to coerce him into selling her a cow, even though it was a festival day. "Could this timing have been any worse?" the irate farmer growled, glaring up at the sky. Nobody answered her—or apologized—so she continued on her way.

..::::..

"BARLEY! Barley Barley Barley BARLEY!" yelled the blonde as she pounded on the rancher's door. "I know you're closed but I really really REALLY need to talk to you!"

Without warning, the door before her flew open. Claire looked in expectantly, but didn't see anyone standing in the doorway.

"Big Sister?"

Surprised, the farmer glanced down to see May looking up at her timidly. "Is everything okay, Big Sister?" she asked in her sweet little voice.

"Oh, hi May," Claire greeted in relief. "I just—" and that's when May squealed.

"A BABY? OHMIGOSH IS THAT A BABY? BIG SISTER, IS THAT YOUR BABY? CAN I SEE? CAN I SEEEEE? PLEASE, CAN I HOLD—"

"MAY!" yelled Barley from inside. "Calm down and invite your guest in!"

"Can I come in?" Claire asked the overexcited little girl gently. May nodded happily and grabbed her hand to pull her in. "Barley! Thank goodness. I was wondering if I could—"

"Hold your horses, Miss Claire! I say, is that a child?" the rancher interrupted in surprise.

"THAT'S WHAT I ASKED!" babbled May excitedly. "BIG SISTER, CAN I HOLD YOUR BABY PLEASE? Please, oh please oh please oh plea—"

The baby burst into tears with all the noise. "Hush, hush," Claire murmured reassuringly, bouncing him gently in her arms. "Please try not to yell, okay May? I think he's afraid."

"Oh," said May in a small voice, trying to peer into the baby's face. Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Okay. Can I hold him now?"

"Soon," Claire said vaguely, then turned back to Barley. "Um, hello, sir...and this isn't my baby. Believe it or not, I found him on my doorstep this morning. I've been trying to figure out what to do! Do you have any idea who his parents are?"

"Really! You don't say." Puzzled, Barley scratched the back of his head. "Hmmm. No, afraid I don't know anythin'. I can help make posters to find adoptive parents or something though, if that would help."

Claire beamed. "That would be awesome! Beyond awesome! Thank you so much!"

"You mean he's not your baby?" May asked, still whispering.

"Of course not, silly," Claire giggled as she tickled the little girl's belly. "I didn't get all round and then suddenly skinny again, did I?"

"No!" giggled May, and then her face turned serious again. "Grandpa, where do babies come from?"

Claire took this opportunity to cut to the chase. "Barley, the real reason I came was…well, I'd like to buy a cow."

Barley frowned, considering. "Well…normally I wouldn't want to do all the paperwork and transporting of cattle on a festival day, but since it's you, heck, why not." He headed outside, gesturing at her to follow.

"Thank you SOOO much!" Claire said, allowing herself to laugh in relief. "I really don't know how else I would feed the baby."

"Hrmmm?" asked Barley, turning up his hearing aids. "What was that you…oh, here's a perfect one. Young and healthy, sturdy as a tree. She should serve you well for some time."

"THANK YOU!" the farmer blurted, hugging him with one arm.

"That'll be 5000G."

Urgh. Claire's stomach twisted, hoping that the doctor had been aware that cows were SO expensive. She now found it unlikely that someone's pocket change would afford a cow, but when she pulled out the notes, she realized they added to 7000G.

Stupid rich people. "Here you go," she said to Barley, forking over the cash.

"Thank ya kindly, missy. So what'll you call her?"

"Uh…oh…I don't know…let's go…umm…Bessie?"

"Really, Big Sister?" asked May, standing in the doorway with her hands on her hips.

"Oh, okay, okay! Um…Clover?"

"Better!" May said with an approving nod.

"Alrigh'," said Barley as he fastened a lead rope to Clover's halter. "I'll bring her on over."

The baby began to become restless again then, squirming and crying tearlessly. "Could I get a milker too?" Claire asked quickly, her brow wrinkling in concern despite herself.

"Ehh, I already threw one in," Barley told her. "Let's head on over. May, you can go inside and start making posters, okay? Let's try to get this little guy home!"

"Okay!" The little girl darted off toward the house, her brown braids bouncing in her excitement. Claire frowned and rubbed the baby's back.

She sure hoped May's posters would work…otherwise, both she and this helpless little boy were doomed.

..::::..

**A/N: Yeah…I know it's all a bit abrupt, but I hope it was okay other than that. Please leave me a review if you get a chance! Thanks for reading! ^_^**

*****EDIT: Rearranged and rewrote a few things—in terms of plot, this is completely unchanged; I just added some dialogue and cut out some unnecessary things to make it flow better. I'm still not a huge fan of this first chapter, but it is what it is. Thanks! *****


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hi, guys :) I'll try to keep this short and sweet. First off, I want to thank everyone for the lovely reviews and awesome support I got for the first chapter. I hope I won't disappoint you!**

**Second, I'm really sorry that this chapter took so long to crank out, but what with my other stories, runaway plot bunnies and my schedule, this is probably the way it's going to be! I can't make any promises about consistent updating, so please bear with me. :3**

**Anyway, please enjoy Chapter 2 of Sudden Stork!**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Harvest Moon.**

**.:.::.:.**

"_WWAAAAAAHHHH—"_

Claire flinched, jabbing the earring she was trying to put in painfully across her earlobe. "Oww!" she hissed, dropping the stud. Her eyes stung with tears as she knelt down and felt the floor to recover it, but she sighed in defeat when she realized it had rolled under her nightstand. Raising her face to the ceiling, she breathed, "Great. Awesome. This is exactly what I wanted. Thank you."

The farmer removed her other earring and tossed it in frustration at the nightstand, not truly caring where it ended up. She reluctantly willed herself over to her bed where the squalling boy was lying. He wailed on, wrapped up in the blankets in what Claire considered a comfy position.

"WWAAAHWAHHHH!"

"What a set of pipes you have, guy," she murmured tiredly, sitting down on the bed beside him. "Your mother must be an opera singer…" With a sigh, she scooped him up and cradled him carefully against her shoulder. Was this what he wanted? How was she supposed to know? There was no way to tell! Claire's stomach adopted the dreading, anxious, twisty feeling she knew all too well.

The infant screamed louder, tears streaming down his face, soaking the pretty blue top that Claire had been planning on wearing. "No, don't worry about it. I didn't want to wear this top anyway," she murmured, bouncing him gently in an effort to soothe for her own sake as much as his. "All the same, I accept your apology."

"WAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

Her nose wrinkled at the sudden rank odour, and the answer dawned on her.

She stood and carried him over to the kitchen table, where she laid him out and looked in confusion at the complex cloth diaper he was wearing. "Shhh, now, it's okay, Piper…lemme just…fix this…." Fiddling with a few clasps, she finally managed to unfasten the confusion of folds, but she knew later that she would never be able to put it back on in the same way. She brushed off that issue to focus on the one at hand.

The diaper fell apart and unleashed an unholy stink. Claire gagged and turned away to cough. "Wow," she managed to breathe, and then quickly regretted it. Pulling the collar of her shirt over her nose, she turned back to complete the diaper change.

And that's where she was stumped. She didn't _have _another diaper. She sat forward at the table and ran her hands through her hair in frustration. The only way she could think of to change the baby was to wash the one he was already wearing…

Well. Wasn't this day getting peachier by the second.

Claire scooped the baby up and walked purposefully outside. As she scraped and scrubbed the mess of a diaper out in her watering pond, the bitter part of her couldn't help but imagine what all the other girls were probably doing right about now.

Last-minute makeup, hair spray. Asking each other if their dresses suit them. Painting their fingernails. Eating bonbons in their upstairs lofts, dressed in chiffon and silk and lace and –

_Don't be ridiculous. They're probably flustered and freaking out. For a lot of them, this is their first date, _she reprimanded herself mentally.

Claire yawned widely before dragging the sopping wet but remarkably clean diaper up out of the water. She smiled smugly, pleased with her efforts, and pinned the diaper up to dry on her makeshift line.

And that's where she was stumped for the second time. What was the baby supposed to wear in the meantime?

She glanced over to where he was lying happily in the grass, butt-naked from the waist down, grabbing at dandelions and bugs that were flitting around. She watched as something landed on his tiny balled-up fist and he got that _look _in his eye. That _I'm going to eat this no matter what it is _look.

"NO!" she cried, leaping toward him and brushing off the mystery bug from his hand. He was so startled that he burst into tears again.

Claire felt like doing the same herself. "Come on," she murmured wearily as she picked him up. She could feel wetness seeping across her shoulder from where his face was resting on her shirt. "Let's go get you some food, hmmm?"

The farmer forced the barn door open with her hip and carried him inside. Clover, the brand-new cow, was peacefully resting in the corner of the barn. Unsure of exactly how to proceed—and if the cow hated her or not—Claire gently placed the infant on the hay and slowly approached the cow. Clover watched her calmly as she came nearer, carrying the Milker, and knelt down beside her.

"Ummm…up?" Claire said uncertainly, gently pushing at the cow's side. As if to humour her Clover got to her feet. An easy grin broke across the farmer's face. _I got this_.

She positioned herself near where she imagined the udders would be and untangled the mess of nozzles. She hit the ON button, squeezed her eyes shut, and aimed the nozzles.

"MMOOOOOOO!"

..:::..

_Knock, knock, knock!_

Doctor sighed and put down the portfolio he'd been assembling. He moved to stand up, but Elli blasted past him, yelling "I'll get it, I'll get it!"

He sat back down with a shrug and furrowed his eyebrows at the page. Jeff…Summer 11, stomach pains—

"Claire! What _happened _to you?"

The doctor's eye twitched. Claire? Hadn't she already come in for someth—oh, right. The baby. How could he forget?

Elli ushered the disheveled-looking farmer into the examination room, and the doctor's eyes widened as he took her in. Her blue spaghetti-strap top was splattered with stickiness, wetness, and some brown stains which he could only assume were mud—and she was nursing a large, purple-blue, hoof-shaped mark on her upper left arm. In her good arm she cradled the baby, who was squirming and sobbing as usual.

"Really, Claire. We let you off on your own for three hours, and this is what happens?" he asked in a lightly teasing tone, looking her over in concern.

The farmer was apparently not in the mood for jokes. She raised two big blue eyes imploringly at him and the nurse as a sob wracked her small frame. As soon as it escaped, she rubbed her eyes stubbornly and swallowed a second. "Th-this is n-not my day."

"Aww, it'll be alright," Elli assured her comfortingly. She moved to wrap her friend in a warm hug but was quickly deterred by the stains, so she settled on stroking her hair. "What happened?"

Claire just shook her head and sighed. "Nevermind. I just came here because I wanted to know if you maybe had something—anything, formula, I don't CARE—that we can give Piper because I think he's starving…"

"Ah," Elli said uncertainly. "I'm not sure if we—"

"We can whip something up, I'm sure," Doctor interrupted her, shooting her a pointed look. He gestured for the nurse to follow him as he headed to his back room. Claire slumped dejectedly in the chair before his desk.

In the back room, Elli stood in front of him and tilted her head at him questioningly. "What are you cooking up, Trent?" she asked.

The Doctor didn't respond right away as he flipped through a series of folders in a filing cabinet. "Formula, hopefully. We've got to have _something_. In the meantime, would you take a look at that bruise? I have a feeling she tried to milk an immature cow…"

Elli giggled into her hand. "There's no way!" she insisted, but headed out to examine Claire anyway. "Claire, dear, what happened to your arm?"

The farmer started in her seat. "Oh. Um. I bought a cow…for milk…but…I don't think she's milk-able yet."

The brunette could only stare. "You tried to milk an immature cow?" She couldn't believe the doctor had been right.

"Apparently." Claire's voice trembled, and as if on cue, the baby burst into tears again. Elli hurried to take him out of the exhausted farmer's arms and placed him on the cot behind her, silently sending out a prayer for the blonde. She would need all the help she could get.

"Let's try this," came the doctor's voice from the back room. Both women turned to look at him as he walked back into the examination room, carrying a tub of whitish liquid and a plastic water bottle. He poured the contents of the tub into the water bottle and looked around for the baby.

"He's here, Doctor," Elli said helpfully, gesturing to the cot. Doctor nodded and knelt down beside the cot, propped the child up with one arm, and tentatively squirted a bit of the liquid into the baby's mouth. All three of them sat forward, on tenterhooks for the infant's reaction to the formula.

At first, he didn't seem to mind it much. Doctor picked him up with a relieved smile and was handing him back to Claire when the infant opened his wide, toothless mouth, and projectile-vomited all over the doctor's white lab coat.

"Ewwww!" shrieked Elli, gagging a bit at the sight. Doctor groaned and tore the garment off immediately, dumping it on the cot. Claire, frowning, held the infant at arm's length.

"Next," sighed Doctor before disappearing into the back room again. He reappeared moments later with a new mixture. "This one's less concentrated, so hopefully he reacts to it better."

He was wrong—Piper reacted more violently than ever, vomiting down the doctor's shirt, in Claire's lap, and narrowly missing the nurse. He did, however, manage to nail the curtains.

"What the heck?" Claire exclaimed indignantly. "If he had that much in him, _why _was he hungry?"

Doctor looked down at his stained shirt and only sighed. "I wish I could tell you. Back to the drawing board…"

Elli dampened a cloth and began scrubbing disgustedly at the curtain. "Unbelievable!"

"This time, let's all wear bibs!" Claire yelled after the doctor, but her raised voice only made the baby start wailing again.

Doctor, though, apparently heard her. He came out with a pile of towels, and one tucked into the collar of his shirt. He tossed one at both Claire and Elli and knelt down in front of the farmer, who was holding the child. "Alright, let's try this again. Open up."

Claire gently tickled Piper's tummy, a trick she'd learned that usually made him open his little mouth. He did, and the doctor carefully aimed the nib of the bottle mouth-wards and squeezed.

The instant the formula made contact with Piper's mouth, he began to cry and thrash frantically. Claire hastily removed him from the line of fire, blinking rapidly to stop the flow of frustrated tears she could feel welling up. "What is it this—ow! That's hot!"

Doctor stopped squeezing the bottle. "It's too hot?"

Claire rubbed her forearm where the jet of formula had been aimed after she'd moved the baby. "Yes," she frowned.

Doctor seemed thrilled. "Great!" He pulled himself to his feet and practically danced over to the fridge.

"Don't worry about my burn," Claire called after him. "I'll be okay. I'll survive. I'm a tough girl. But thanks for your concern!"

"You're welcome," he called back. He shoved the bottle of formula into the back of the cooler and slammed the door shut, looking satisfied.

Elli wandered out after him. "Or we could just add some ice to it," she said. He shook his head fervently.

"No, it would melt and change the concentration of the formula, which I do not want to risk. He didn't react to the mixture this time, only the temperature, so I'm thinking we might have stumbled across the right one."

The nurse rolled her eyes and checked her watch. "Try it now, Trent."

The doctor obliged, taking the bottle out of the cooler and walking back to Claire. "This time, test it on your arm first," the farmer advised.

"And throw towels everywhere!" Elli added, rushing back into the room and covering every surface she laid eyes on in terry cloth. She even threw a few more towels on Claire and Doctor for good measure before draping herself in the extras. She had no desire to take another bath today…

The doc squirted a sample on his wrist and paused, thoughtful. "Well?" Claire prompted. He glanced up and squirted a little bit in her direction. "Hey!"

"Well?" he asked teasingly. "No, I think it's okay. Here, open his mouth."

Claire flicked her wet hand at him reproachfully before tickling the baby's belly. Instead of opening his mouth, he made some sort of angry baby-noise and turned his face away.

"Great Goddess above," murmured Doctor in frustration. And just to make Claire's life completely joyous and blissful, the telltale tinkling of the Clinic door let the three people gathered in the examination room know that they had a guest.

"Doctor?" came Cliff's voice uncertainly. He stood in the middle of the waiting room, looking lost. Doctor and Elli both leaned around the curtains to get a look at him, but Claire curled into herself and tried half-heartedly to hide the baby in her shirt.

"In here," Doctor said tiredly. He turned to face Cliff as he shuffled self-consciously in, his hands stuffed in his pockets and face downcast. Claire panicked and tried to hide herself behind the doctor's figure. While she was trying to get the message out to the public about the mystery baby, she definitely didn't want anyone her age finding out _first_ and getting the _wrong _message. "What seems to be the problem?"

"I…I, uh…was helping Doug cook some things…and I burned my arm kind of badly…" Cliff began slowly, scuffing his shoe on the floor. "I was hoping you could give me something for it…"

Piper didn't like being squished against Claire's chest, and he'd been squirming the whole time. Besides, he was hungry, and the little teasers of food were just torture! He began to wriggle, and a small wail escaped from him before the farmer started gently rocking him.

Cliff quirked an eyebrow and peered behind the doctor. "Was that a…baby?"

Claire made a tiny sound of protest, and the Doctor frantically searched his mind for an excuse. "Uh—no." That was the best he could come up with in one second; behind him, Claire facepalmed.

The traveler frowned and looked up at the doctor, who wasn't that much taller than him. "What was it then?"

Snapping his fingers, the physician swiftly turned Cliff around and guided him towards the lobby again. "I know just the thing for your arm. Wait right _here_."

"But you haven't even looked at it yet!"

Claire breathed a sigh of relief and hefted the baby up to rest on her shoulder. "And what's with all the towels?" she heard Cliff ask. It was at times like these when she was grateful for all gifts of foraged herbs she'd given to the medical duo.

"And what's with the stain on your shirt? What is that, anyway…?"

Man, Cliff was asking a lot of questions! She overheard Doctor tell him to wait for a moment, and he jogged upstairs.

Piper squirmed in her arms and threatened to unleash another bawl, so Claire picked up the bottle of formula from the desk where Doctor had left it. Bouncing him gently in her arms, she propped the nib of the bottle against the baby's mouth. Amazingly, his little mouth fell open and he began to suck on the bottle.

Claire had never felt such relief. She squeezed the bottle slightly and watched as the infant swallowed mouthful after mouthful. "Oh, thank you," she whispered, and reclined against the cot behind her.

Her relief was short-lived. The bells above the door jingled again, and she heard a voice that was distinctly Gray's curse. Heavy work boots scuffed the smooth tiles of the clinic before the smith raised his voice. "Cliff? Goddess. Doug sent me to come get you because apparently Anne's getting upset—or something," he grumbled. Claire stiffened as she heard him approach Cliff. "Are you done? Can we go?"

"No," Cliff answered. "Doctor's still getting something."

"Well? Where the hell is he?" Gray demanded. She could see his dark figure through the curtains and just about died when he poked his head around them to check the examination room.

The apprentice smith froze and stared at her with wide blue eyes. "Claire? What the hell?" he said hoarsely, his gaze falling on the bundle of joy in her arms.

"What?" came Cliff's voice. He followed his roommate and peered into the examination room to see the farmer curled up sheepishly on the floor, feeding a baby from a bottle. His mouth fell open in shock. "You had a _baby_? Goddess, I—"

Gray turned on him accusingly. "Did you know something about this?" he growled. Cliff flinched slightly, his eyes widening.

"W-What? Of course not!" he replied indignantly. "What are you saying?"

"Guys—" Claire began.

Gray scowled and crossed his arms. "You didn't seem all _that _surprised, and I know you two hang out at the church a lot! It wouldn't surprise me if _you were the father_!"

"Excuse me?" cried Claire, as both she and Cliff reddened furiously. "Gray, that's so—"

"Oh, yeah?" Cliff snapped over the farmer's protests, also crossing his arms. "Well, you seem pretty uptight about this! I know she visits the forge in the mornings! It wouldn't surprise me if _you're _the father and trying to cover it up by blaming me!"

Claire scrambled to her feet, ready to punch both of them in the face. "WOULD YOU TWO SHUT UP AND LISTEN TO ME?" The baby spat the formula in his mouth all over her shirt and began to bawl. Still, the two irate men in front of her ignored her.

Doctor chose exactly the wrong time to appear again with a pot of salve for Cliff's burn. He was just opening his mouth to give directions to the traveler when both he and Gray turned ferociously on him. "You!" spat Gray. "You disgust me!"

"Yeah! I bet it was him all along! And then he hid her in his clinic so nobody would find out!"

"What are you talking about?" Doctor asked, raising an eyebrow. Gray jabbed him in the chest.

"GUYS—stop—the baby isn't—" Claire tried again. Gray continued as if she hadn't said anything.

"We know she visits the clinic almost every day!"

"It wouldn't surprise us if _you're the father_!" Cliff finished venomously. Doctor stared at them for a moment before shaking his head slightly.

"I'm still not following. What are you _talking _about?"

Wordlessly, Cliff pointed at Claire, who was sitting behind them on the cot, her head in her hands. She was glaring out at them through her fingers.

"Oh," Doctor said simply. Gray immediately pounced on him.

"AHA!" he cried triumphantly. "We have a confession!" An empty plastic bottle whacked him in the back of the head. "Ow!"

Claire appeared beside him and glared at him fiercely before turning her burning gaze to Cliff. "You're. Both. Wrong," she said slowly, containing her frustration with effort. But both men got the completely wrong idea.

"You mean it was—Kai?" Gray asked, his eyes narrowing. "Of course! I know you spend afternoons at the bea—" Claire's murderous expression stopped him short, but Cliff was too busy staring at his shoes and missed it.

"That only leaves one suspect," he said quietly. Claire turned her eyes on him, but he didn't look up. "It was…Rick."

Gray laughed. "Yeah. Good one, Cliff." Then he realized his friend was serious. "Oh. Yeah, um, right, man. Could've been him. I guess."

Claire looked back at him and he shrank from her gaze. "Are you done now?" she asked coldly.

"Well," Gray said, still not understanding, "my bet is still on Doc—" Claire tossed a box of tissues at him before he could finish.

"No! Stop! The baby is _not mine. _Goddess, this is why I didn't want any of you loonies to find out yet!"

_Oh. _Gray and Cliff stared at her, feeling like morons. Their manly pride was further bruised when Doctor began to laugh quietly. "Well, what were we supposed to think?" Gray asked, confronting the blonde. She flipped her hair over her shoulder and glared back defiantly.

"Well, for one thing, you should have given me half a second to explain," she replied curtly. "Anyway, thanks for your help, Doctor. I think I'll be on my way now."

"Okay," the physician replied, trying valiantly to swallow his amusement since Gray looked about ready to pummel him. "Elli will give you some of the formula and directions. Enjoy the festival…"

"You, too." The farmer brushed past Cliff and Gray, still fuming, and spoke to Elli behind the counter. Without looking back, she headed out the clinic door and closed it firmly behind her.

Gray mentally kicked himself. He'd woken up that morning with the resolve to ask Claire out to the Festival, and look how well that turned out! She'd either murder him or assign him diaper duty—which was just as bad—if he asked her now.

And now she was a single mom. Sort of. Or something.

"Is that baby going to be living with her?" Gray heard himself ask the doctor.

The dark-haired man didn't turn from filing paperwork back into a filing cabinet. "I have no idea. I bought her a cow, so she better."

Gray blinked slowly. That last sentence didn't make _any _sense to him, but now he just wanted to get out of the clinic. Grabbing Cliff's arm and dragging him to the door, he called over his shoulder, "Right."

.:.:::.:.

**A/N: So that wraps up chapter 2. Um...I know it didn't add much in terms of plot, but I really wanted to have some fun and show the relationships between the characters! Anyway, I hope it wasn't too boring. So! It might be a little early on to tell, but any of you have any suggestions/recommendations for who the matchmaker with the keyboard should set poor Claire up with? (Power...:D) Let me know! And please leave me a review if you get a chance. Thanks for reading!~ ^.^**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I'm baaack, thanks to all you lovely, wonderful people who reviewed/favourited/alerted/all of the above! :3**

**I just wanted to thank everyone so much for all the support for chapter 2...I really wasn't expecting a 9-review response. That's probably my record, and it was just awesome, haha. So thanks! Anyway...**

**There's quite a bit of Gray in this, for all you Graire fans. But it's not set in stone yet-I'm going to do something kind of like what cowgirl158 suggested in her review; a little bit with each bachelor, and it'll work itself out from there. But I'd still love to hear your thoughts and input. So far Claire x Dr. Trent and Claire x Gray are top on the leaderboard. (Poor Rick and Kai sitting at 0...) **

**Now it's Gray's turn to shine!**

**Disclaimer: I...actually don't own Harvest Moon. True story. **

.:.:::.:.

Claire stared at her far wall panel from where she was curled up in her bed, her cheek lying flat on a dampened pillow. Every so often, an especially large firecracker would go off and cast its light against the boarded wall. It was as close as she wanted to get to the festival.

Some people might have felt particularly lonely in her situation—alone in their dark, quiet house while the rest of the town was living it up at the beach. But Claire sometimes preferred this…and besides, she wasn't exactly alone.

She rolled over onto her back and wiped her eyes with her arm. Beside her, Piper was fast asleep on his back, tiny arms splayed and his head turned to one side. It was kind of peaceful to watch him, and Claire wished she could drop off to sleep so easily. Sleep never came easily to her.

Her legs itched to move, so she quietly kicked off the covers and slipped out of the bed, plucking a piece of straw out of her hair that had apparently poked out of the mattress. She stretched and half-heartedly opened her disheveled storage box that served as a cupboard to scavenge for food, knowing full well that she had eaten her last rice ball days before. Still, she considered herself an optimist till the end, and it never hurt to check.

She slipped out the front door and stood on the threshold in her bare feet, letting the summer breeze caress her hair against her face. Wandering into the grass, she looked for a good vantage point above the trees and roofs of her farm buildings before sitting cross-legged in the middle of her field. As she watched, a glittering red heart-shaped firecracker burst in the sky with a thunderous boom. Drawing her knees to her chest, she watched quietly and listened to the "ooh"s and "aah"s of the crowd.

She closed her eyes and breathed in the sweet, humid scent of the night. She was too hot to sleep in her flannel nightgown, and there was no way she would sleep in her underwear—too many people tended to knock on her door in the morning too often. An awkward incident involving a certain salesman opening the door as she was scrambling to dress brought a humiliated blush to her cheeks.

The night breeze felt cool against her skin. She stood up and wandered back to her house to quickly change into her work clothes for the next day before heading back out again. There, she curled up in the grass under the starry sky and scrunched her eyes closed. _Well,_ she figured, _might as well finish this insane day on a weird note._

Inside, Piper started screaming. She bit her lower lip fiercely and forced herself upright with a sigh.

_Or maybe a shrill one…_

.:.:::.:.

Gray stood awkwardly outside Barley's door and waited for somebody to answer his knock. He couldn't recall ever being on the farm before—the old man never seemed to break any of his tools, and a blacksmith didn't have any other business on the ranch.

"WE'RE CLOSED!" rasped a voice from the window above the door. Gray jumped back in surprise and squinted up into the sunlight, trying to make out a face. "COME BACK TOMORROW!"

"Grandpa!" came a disapproving, girlish voice. "You shouldn't lie to customers!"

"We ARE closed, May!" insisted the man's voice.

"No we're not!"

The smith could faintly hear a pitter-patter of little feet on the stairs, and the door before him suddenly burst open. He glanced down to see May standing in front of him, her hands on her tiny hips. "Hi," she huffed. "Grandpa always does this after late festivals! He's just tired because he's old!"

"MAY!"

The little girl ignored her grandfather's protest. "Come in!" she said cheerfully, taking Gray's big hand in her small one and leading him into the house.

"Uhh…thanks," he mumbled, confused. Barley came thumping down the stairs after his granddaughter, adjusting his circular glasses and grumbling to himself. He settled behind the counter and stroked his beard as he quickly looked Gray over.

"G'morning, lad," he greeted, the grumpiness dissolving as May gave him her good-morning hug. "Blacksmith's boy, right? What can I do ye for?"

The smith rubbed the back of his neck self-consciously. "I uh…I'd like to buy…a cow," he mumbled.

Barley frowned, adjusting his hearing aids as he leaned forward. "What's that, sonny?"

"I said," Gray repeated, raising his voice, "That I'd like to buy a COW."

Barley stopped mid-stroke and stared at Gray for a moment before bursting into gales of laughter. "Hoo-hah! That there's a good one—where were you thinkin' of keepin' it, under Saibara's bed? Doug's kitchen? I don't think—I don't think she'd last long there!" He doubled over in laughter that quickly turned to gut-wrenching coughs as May patted his back worriedly.

Gray set his jaw and glared at him. "I'm serious!"

The old rancher sighed contentedly and straightened. "Why, son?"

"Because!" In Gray's opinion, it really wasn't any of the old man's business what he did with a cow he purchased with his own money. "Will you just sell me a freaking cow?"

Barley crossed his arms and looked the younger man over critically. "Those girls are like part of my family, son. It's my job to ensure they're in good hands." He leaned across the counter. "So just tell me what a city boy like you wants with one of my cows. She won't end up on tonight's menu at the Inn, will she?"

Clenching and unclenching his fists, Gray answered through his teeth. "I want…to give it…to Claire."

Barley's eyebrows shot up in surprise and he straightened again. "A cow…as a present?"

Gray sighed through his nose and crossed his arms, looking at Barley expectantly. "So? Can I buy one now?"

"You know…there are other ways to a woman's heart…cheaper ones…"

"I know!" Gray growled in frustration.

"..Chocolates, roses…letters…perfume…"

The smith shook his head in annoyance. "I know, I know! Can I buy a cow already?"

"Why…a cow? I know she's a rancher and all, but…it's not very romantic…"

"Gah!" Gray exploded. "BECAUSE DOCTOR BOUGHT HER A COW YESTERDAY. Alright? !" Trailing after the doctor and bugging him with questions at the festival the night before had proven very beneficial indeed…

"Aaaaahhhh," Barley said in understanding, nodding sagely. "Of course…you don't wish to be outdone. Pretty soon…all the boys in town will be buying livestock for Claire!" He paused thoughtfully. "I rather like the idea…"

"So?" Gray prompted, tapping his feet impatiently and tugging his cap down over his face to hide his embarrassment at his outburst.

Barley walked past him to the door. "Ohohoho! Why, of course you can buy your cow now. Lucky girl...Follow me."

The irritated smith followed the aged rancher as he slowly hobbled out to his barn and threw the doors open. "There," he said proudly, gesturing to the variety of livestock ambling to and fro across the barn. A cunning look came across his face. "Although…if you bought just a cow, you'd still only be on par with the doctor. Now if you bought her a sheep AND a cow, you'd be outdoing him, hmm?"

Gray's eyes lit up with inspiration. "I'll take a sheep too," he announced.

"Excellent choice, my boy," Barley chuckled, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. "Here, let's get you all set up!"

Gray stood obediently beside the old man as he fastened ropes to a young cow and a young sheep before handing them over. "There ya are…comes to 9000G."

Balking at the price tag, the apprentice smith dug in his pockets and counted out the cash. That was about three weeks' pay…where did Doctor _get _this kind of money to hand out to cute blonde farmers on a whim? Grudgingly, he handed it over and nodded stiffly to Barley as he turned to go.

Barley patted his shoulders. "Best of luck, m'boy," he called after him. After he was out of sight, livestock trailing slowly behind him, the rancher chuckled in satisfaction and tucked the money away into his pocket. "Can't wait for the rest of 'em to come…" He turned to come face-to-face with his disapproving granddaughter, who stood by the barn door with her arms crossed.

"Grandpa," she began severely, "did you _con _the grumpy man into buying two animals?"

"No, no, sweetie," he answered uncomfortably, patting her head. "I'm helping him win over the girl of his dreams. I did him a service."

The little girl looked unconvinced as grabbed his hand. "Well, c'mon, it's time to make posters for Claire!"

.:.:::.:.

"Uuughhnnn…"

Three sharp knocks sounded at her door. "Claire?"

She jolted upright, her back cracking. "O-owww." Her shoulders slumped exhaustedly—she felt like she hadn't slept at all.

The farmer realized she was seated on a cushion at her table. Her upper body was sprawled across its surface, loosely cradling Piper, who blinked at her and blew a spit-bubble.

"Lovely," she murmured, blinking sleepily. "Good morning to you too…"

_Knock, knock, knock!_

"Coooming…" Claire groaned as she pulled herself to her feet and stretched epically. Sleeping like that…was really bad for her back, she realized. Even her awful bed was an improvement over _that_…

"Claire…?"

She rolled her eyes as she recognized the voice to be Gray's and shuffled over to the door. "I said I'm coming…" Outside, he shifted from foot to foot anxiously.

When she opened the door, Gray snapped to attention and blinked at her. She blinked back at him expectantly and brushed her messy hair behind her ear. "Well…? Can I help you?"

"Uuuhhhhmmm…" he began, tugging his cap lower, "I…brought you something…" He cleared his throat. "Two things."

Claire tilted her head at him curiously, her brow furrowed. Gray shuffled awkwardly aside and gestured at the two farm animals waiting behind him, munching patiently on Claire's overgrown lawn. The farmer's mouth fell open in shock.

"A—a _cow_?" she stammered. "And—and, a sheep? You brought me—_livestock_?"

Gray couldn't tell if she was happy, angry, or just plain incredulous. Or all three, maybe. "Do you like them…?" he finally asked.

"I—" She took a step forward and stretched a hand out to touch the cow's nose, only to slowly lower it before making contact. "Gray, I—I can't accept these!"

"Why not?" he demanded, crossing his arms. "They're all paid for and everything!"

"Because—I—" Swallowing, she turned her big blue eyes on him. "They…I mean—I'm not a charity case, Gray!"

Gray was taken aback. "That's not why I bought them! Anyway, you _have _to keep them, because I can't! HA!"

"Do you think I can't take care of myself?" Claire hissed. "Do you think you all have to take care of me? Well, you don't! And I can't keep them because I can't pay you back! HA!"

"Did I say you had to pay me back?" he snapped. "No. That's the whole idea of a _gift_. You should know, you give enough of them yourself!"

"So I AM a charity case!" she exploded.

"NO!" Gray roared.

"Am I interrupting something…?" asked a quiet voice. Both Claire and Gray turned angrily to face the intruder.

It was Cliff, carrying a chicken in his arms. He was so nervous that he was squeezing it a little too tightly; it clucked in distress and tried to flap away, only causing the traveler to grasp it tighter.

"Hi, Cliff," Claire sighed, her tone softening.

Gray looked between them in annoyance. "What's with the chicken?" he finally asked, gruffly.

"Oh...um…I bought it for Claire…as an apology," Cliff mumbled, ducking his head down and holding out the tormented bird. "I'm sorry for being stupid yesterday…but I hope you like it…"

Claire smiled at the poor guy and accepted his peace offering—how could she not? "Thank you, Cliff. I accept your apology…but you didn't have to get me this."

Cliff smiled shyly back at her before the two animals beside Gray caught his eye. "You bought her a cow and a sheep?" he asked incredulously, immediately putting the whole thing together and feeling inferior.

His roommate scowled back at him. How come Cliff spends—what, 500G?—on a stupid little bird and gets a smile from Claire, while he spends 9000G on TWO farm animals and only gets in a huge fight?

"Uhh…I'll be going now…see you later," Cliff said awkwardly, sensing Gray's hostility and backing away from them. As soon as he was gone, Gray turned back to confront the farmer. She held the chicken carefully and stared down at her shoes. After a short silence, she spoke up.

"You're only trying to help," she murmured quietly. "I'm sorry…and thank you."

Gray looked at her, wide-eyed. "You mean you'll take them?"

She flipped her hair over her shoulder and met his eyes. "I guess I'll have to," she sniffed snobbishly, then grinned at his expression. "Just kidding. Thank you, Gray, they're awesome gifts, but just…don't do it again."

Grinning like an idiot, the smith lowered his cap over his face and nodded. "Believe me, I won't." He kicked at a pebble on the ground before his heart lurched uneasily. "Uhh—Cliff brought a chicken-?"

"Yes…?"

"Which means Poultry Farm is open…which means it's after 11…"

"Which means you're late," Claire told him cheerfully. "Saibara is gonna kick your bum, Gray. Now shoo! I have some animals to take care of!" Gray nodded with a grin and jogged off down the trail.

Claire smiled lightly after him, then plopped down in the grass and stared into the content face of her newest cow. "Oh, Goddess, how am I supposed to feed you too?" she moaned.

The chicken in her arms clucked and fluffed its wings. Claire released it into the grass, where it pecked happily at the ground. "_You're_ easy to take care of, at least…"

"Baaa," added the sheep, peeking out from behind the cow. Claire flomped back into the grass.

"Don't remind me," she grumbled. "Pig out on the grass, _please_. Oh, and eat all the weeds you like…especially the ones growing over there." She pointed to her field, as if the sheep could understand her.

"MOOO!" Clover lowed from inside the barn.

"WAAAAH!" Piper wailed from inside the house.

"I want my mother," the farmer sighed, as her own stomach growled.

.:.:::.:.

**A/N: And things are only getting started for poor Claire! *rubs hands together eagerly***

**Anyhoo, I hope you enjoyed~ please leave me a review and let me know what you thoughts are if you get a chance! Thanks for reading! :D**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hey everyone! Thank you all so much for all the awesome reviews I got for last chapter, and I hope I don't disappoint you! ^^**

**Oh, and AmethystPhoenix...no, no, they really don't get it at all. :P**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harvest Moon. Or the Band-Aid company. Or anything else I mention ._.**

**.:.:::.:.**

"So what do you think it is this time?" Sasha hissed to Anna, who peered carefully over her shoulder before answering.

"Well, there was only one other time they called us to the Square for a town meeting…" the brunette murmured back conspiratorially, "…and that was to introduce us to baby May."

"No," Manna argued. "Remember when my Aja left? That was such a dreadful day—I'll never forget…Duke went straightaway to Mayor Thomas and told him that—"

"Oh, right, of course," Lillia hastily cut in before the other woman got going. "Yes, they did call a meeting for that too, didn't they?"

The foursome was standing in their usual spot in Rose Square, huddled together and gossiping. The day before, Mayor Thomas had announced a surprise "Very Urgent Town Meeting of Utmost Importance" and requested that every villager be in attendance for 10 am. The four women had turned up early to speculate on the event.

"Wait!" Sasha whispered. "Before Claire came, we had a meeting then too, didn't we?" Lillia nodded in agreement.

"So you're saying either another girl ran off to have a kid—" Anna began.

"My bet is on Karen!" Manna piped up suddenly. Sasha tossed her a venomous glare.

"I'll have you know my Karen has done _nothing of the sort_," she snapped.

"…Or we have another new resident," the housewife finished weakly, stepping away from the two feuding women. "Although we haven't any farms left."

"They could help on my winery," Manna grumbled. "Goddess knows Duke is hardly good for anything, the lazy sloth! Why, just the other day I went outside to bring him his lunch, and there he was, sitting under a grape vine drinking _vodka _of all things—"

"At least you _have _your husband," Sasha murmured, just loud enough for Lillia to hear and sigh.

While the women had gossiped, the square had slowly filled up around them with curious townspeople. A small podium, complete with a microphone and several dictionaries stacked at its base, stood at the north end of the square, just in front of the information sign.

"I didn't see little Claire at the Fireworks Festival," Anna continued conversationally. "Anyone hear if she had a date?"

"Well, I bet that Gray would ask her, remember?" Sasha answered. "I guess he didn't."

Anna pouted. "Really? I thought he was going to ask Mary, and the doctor would take Claire. Did he go with Elli?"

"I haven't the foggiest," Lillia murmured, shaking her head. "He didn't mention anything during any of my checkups. But I guess neither of us brought it up…Sasha, did Rick ever end up asking Karen? He wouldn't tell me."

"You bet he did. She pretended to be all angry about it, but she spent an extra hour on her hair and makeup. Mention that to him, might encourage the two of them to hurry it along…"

"I can't wait to be related to you," Lillia giggled, before her attention was caught by a splash of red near the podium. "Oh, look—there's Thomas now."

Her three friends followed her gaze to where Thomas stood in front of the podium. He smoothed out his bright red suit and carefully stepped onto the stack of dictionaries before tapping the microphone. The crowd in the square fell silent, waiting for the mayor to speak.

Thomas cleared his throat grandly and leaned into the microphone. "Test, test…Hello? 1, 2, 3, testing. I say 1, 2, 3…Hello? Can everyone hear me? 1, 2, 3…"

"WE CAN HEAR YOU!" Duke roared from the back of the crowd. Thomas clasped his hands together and beamed at the townspeople gathered.

"Well, good morning, Mineral Town!" he cried dramatically. "And what a good morning it is! The sun is shining, not a cloud in the sky—ooh, I lied, there's one right there, isn't there? It looks like a bunny! Yes, well, even so…quite a lovely morning indeed."

The crowd murmured quietly with impatience. Thomas shifted his weight from foot to foot and leaned into the microphone again. "Well! I'm sure you're all anxious with curiosity as to the occasion of being called to the town square on this particularly nice morning, yes? Am I right? I'm right, aren't I?"

"Yes…" a few people sighed.

"I'm right!" Thomas grinned, throwing his arms in the air delightedly. "Fantastic! Well, I'm just pleased as punch to tell you…" He paused dramatically for effect. "…That a baby was found on Miss Claire's doorstep yesterday morning! Yes! It's true!"

"_What_?" someone yelled. A horrified gasp went through the throng as people turned to each other in shock and whispered. Thomas beamed at the reaction and continued.

"Claire wishes to…" He squinted carefully at his cue card. "…emphasize…that the baby is not hers."

"Well, who left a baby on its own outside?" Doug's voice demanded furiously from somewhere in the assembly.

"Hey now," the mayor chided, holding his palms out. "Let's not go pointing fingers! We're all friends here! Now…Claire would be MOST appreciative if the person would kindly step forward and claim their baby."

Silence.

From inside the horde of people where she'd squeezed herself between Zack and Mary, Claire slapped her forehead with the palm of her hand. _Obviously _Piper's mother wasn't about to go running up in front of everyone screaming, "Oh, my bad, that's _my_ illegitimate son". Thomas didn't realize it had to be private—he had to give them **time. **She gestured wildly to get the mayor's attention, and when he glanced her way, she impatiently tapped her wrist to indicate a watch.

"Oh!" Thomas said uncertainly. "Uhrm…and…_watch _for further details?" Claire shook her head fervently. "Um…" he tried again. "Now is the…_time_…to claim the baby?" As the farmer frantically tried to come up with another hint, Thomas shrugged in defeat and added, "Well, uh…now I'd like to call up, uh…the Doctor! Yeah. He'll…give you more details. Please welcome our very own Dooooooctor Treeeeent!"

"What?" came the Doctor's voice incredulously. After a few moments, he appeared from inside the crowd and made his way stiffly to the podium, where he nudged aside the stack of dictionaries. "Uh…good morning," he began. "Um…I'm not sure what I'm supposed to say, but…the baby is a boy, healthy, approximately a week old. Even if you're not the birth parents, we're looking for a foster home for him, so please consider that. Uhh…in the meantime, he'll be staying with Claire." The farmer's wildly flailing arms from inside the mob caught his eye. He furrowed his brow in confusion as she frantically made the slit-throat gesture, trying to tell him to stop. Elli had already offered to keep the baby at the clinic! "Or…not? Um…" _Slit throat…dead? Death? _"The…graveyard?" he guessed, thoroughly puzzled. "No…"

Claire facepalmed again as the doctor huffed impatiently. "Claire, why don't you just come up here and tell them yourself?" he asked in annoyance. She crossed her arms and stalked away from the mob and up to the podium.

"Good morning, again," she sighed into the microphone. "Um, actually, if you want to look at the baby, he will be staying at the Clinic."

Doctor's eyes widened and grabbed the microphone away. "No, she means her house."

Claire grabbed it back. "He's joking, he means the Clinic!"

"Claire's house!" he insisted, taking the microphone back.

"THE CLINIC!"

"Rambunctious youth!" snapped Thomas, wrenching the microphone away from Claire. Pushing them behind him, he hissed, "Sort out your differences over there!" He cleared his throat and turned back to the crowd. "The baby will be staying, for the time being, at CLAIRE'S HOUSE if anybody wants to see him."

Behind him, the two young adults faced each other with narrowed eyes.

"Why are you trying to sic the baby on the clinic without talking to us?" Doctor asked, crossing his arms.

Claire rubbed her forehead. "Elli said you wouldn't mind…!"

Both of them turned to look at the nurse in the crowd, who waved happily and shot them a thumbs-up. Doctor turned back to Claire.

"Yeah, well, Elli forgot to mention that my order came in this week and I'll be mixing medicine for the next few days. The fumes would be harmful to him—that's no place for him to be."

Claire deflated, her shoulders slumping. "Oh."

In front of them, the mayor was wrapping up the meeting.

"And with that," Thomas finished with a flourish, "I conclude our town meeting!"

As people began to file out of the square, the farmer hastily grabbed the microphone. "Wait! Everyone, please, I want you to all seriously consider, um, welcoming a baby into your lives. I know it's a big decision and a big change, but…well, he needs someone! Someone abandoned him—show him some love and compassion!"

Within seconds, the square had emptied. Claire sighed dejectedly and replaced the microphone on the podium as Doctor patted her shoulder reassuringly. The whole thing had just struck her as a completely lost cause.

Nobody was going to adopt the baby—there weren't many couples to begin with in Mineral Town, and the ones that did exist were the wrong ages to be adopting babies. They were either middle-aged with grown children (Anna and Basil, Sasha and Jeff) or not at that stage yet—like Rick and Karen.

Turning around, she gasped aloud to find Pastor Carter standing inside her personal space bubble and smiling calmly. She blinked in confusion as he extended a hand to lightly grip her arm.

"Claire," he began earnestly, "I just wanted to say that you may not see it now, but I sincerely believe that the child was bestowed upon you by the Harvest Goddess herself to assist in your healing process."

"Healing process?" the farmer repeated. "But Carter—babies don't heal. Doctors and Band-Aids heal."

He shook his head patiently. "No Claire…I'm talking about your emotional injury."

"Emotional injury?" she asked blankly. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"That's because you internalize too much," he told her serenely. Claire clenched her jaw.

"I do _not_!"

"Oh come on," Carter scoffed. "You've lived here for a month and a half, and we still hardly know any more about you than we did when you first stepped off that boat. Where did you come from? Why did you come here? What is your goal in life? You're alive, but you're not living!"

Claire _never _understood inspirational religious phrases. "That's not logical…"

The pastor gestured at her in exasperation. "Claire! Listen to yourself."

"I do!" she argued, crossing her arms. "I don't have a choice!" Carter only sighed and slowly shook his head.

"Perhaps you should spend some more time at the Church. It's done wonders for Cliff, you know."

"O-Oh?" Claire asked weakly. That sounded nice and all, but in between finding enough food to keep everything on her farm alive and trying to get Piper adopted, she really didn't have enough time to sit in a pew and reflect on anything. "Maybe I'll try that sometime…"

"No time like the present," Carter declared. Claire's eyes widened as his grip on her sleeve tightened and he began to pull her off in the direction of the church.

"Hey! Hold on a second! Not _now_! I have a sheep and two cows at home! Plus a baby! Have mercy!"

"This is mercy in its purest form," was Carter's tranquil retort. Before long, they arrived in front of the Church and the pastor's clamp on her sleeve loosened. The farmer shook her arms out and stared defiantly at the white building. "Well, come on in."

Sighing inwardly, Claire followed the pastor inside and glanced briefly around the sanctuary. It was surprisingly roomy, and—although she hated to admit it—had a peaceful, calming atmosphere. No wonder Carter was always so relaxed.

A figure sat hunched forward in the first pew on the left-hand side of the sanctuary, and as Claire drew closer, she eventually recognized him to be Cliff. He sat with his head bowed and hands clasped white-knuckled in his lap. Quietly, so as not to disturb his concentration, she took a seat beside him and folded her hands together.

Carter wandered to the front of the sanctuary and opened a prayer book resting on the pedestal. For a few seconds, the flutter of brittle pages being carefully turned filled the looming emptiness of the sanctuary; after he found his page, the heavy silence returned.

Claire fidgeted, not wanting to relax in spite of the warm quietness. She peeked out of the corner of her eye at Cliff, who hadn't seemed to notice her presence, and mimicked his posture. Her eyelids suddenly felt quite heavy. Against her will, she began to slump against the pew.

"I'll be in the confessional if anyone needs me," Carter murmured quietly. Startled, she straightened instantly and sat ramrod-straight as she nodded acknowledgment at the pastor. His robes gently brushing the floor of the sanctuary, he wandered over to the far left door and ducked inside.

Silence descended once again as Claire stifled a yawn. No…this would just not do…there were a million things she had to do—like mix Piper`s midmorning formula and let the cows out…build a fence for the chicken…find some herbs to eat, maybe a berry if she was lucky…

But this was so relaxing…

"Claire?" asked Cliff, his voice sounding slow and far away. He gently shook her shoulder.

Her eyelids shot open—she'd been dozing. "What time is it?" she cried in a panic.

Cliff jumped in surprise beside her. "Ahh—quarter to 10!" he blurted.

"Oh." So she'd only fallen asleep for about a minute. "That's alright then."

The traveler rubbed the back of his neck shyly. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, thanks," she mumbled sleepily, forcing herself to her feet. "Well …I'll see you around…"

"Bye," Cliff replied quietly.

Claire pushed open the sanctuary doors and shuffled outside, blinking blearily at the morning sunlight. Out of nowhere, a flash of purple by the fencing caught her eye—she snapped her head over to look, squinting through the sunlight.

Whatever it was had vanished. _Or maybe I just imagined the whole thing. _Sighing, she shook her head and took another step towards the cobblestone road—until another flicker of purple grabbed her attention.

Instinctively, she whirled around to face it, and this time she saw it dash away. She chased after it as it disappeared down a long, narrow trail winding around the side of the church. Her feet stumbled on the lumpy ground and the long, unkempt grass snagged at her exposed arms; the place obviously hadn't seen much tending lately.

When she emerged, panting, at the end of the trail, she found herself face-to-face with a small, squat hut. It was built mainly of bamboo stalks with a grass roof and had a small set of welcoming double-doors. Cautiously, Claire approached it and gently pushed the doors open.

She found herself in a small—but cozy—brightly lit room. It was fully furnished with cupboards and drawers; a small kitchenette was tucked into one side. Her eyebrows drew together in puzzlement as she examined the room's main attractions: a small table surrounded by seven miniature multicoloured chairs stood in the centre of the room, and seven tiny multicoloured beds lined the far wall.

Claire suddenly felt as if she were walking in on somebody else's fairy tale—it was almost as if Snow White had missed her entrance and the farmer had stumbled into the cottage instead. _That would be just my luck_, she thought wryly.

"Hello?" she called out, taking a few halting steps towards the table. "Does anyone live here?"

There was no reply—but the lights were on, and there wasn't any dust that she could see. If these were the seven dwarves, they were a lot cleaner than the movie portrayed them…

Flash of green this time. She whirled around to try and catch it, but it was gone before she could get a good look. "I saw you," she called, but there was no reply.

Claire knelt in front of one of the beds, squinting at the frames to try to see if there were any names engraved on them. There weren't…but they sure looked comfy…

And she was so tired…

.:.:::.:.

"S-See? I told you there was a human!" someone hissed.

"Gee! What should we do with it, budum?"

"Maybe it's dead!"

"Do you think it stole all our tea?"

Claire's eyelids fluttered briefly, and furrowing her brow, she rolled over. There was a small chorus of gasps as she shifted. The farmer froze, rigid with alarm.

"Eep!" squealed a tiny voice. "It's alive! Y-Y-You w-watch it!"

"….M-m-m-me?" squeaked an even tinier voice. "B-b-b-but I…"

Claire's eyes shot open. She was facing the foot of the beds and realized she was lying across four of them—but that wasn't her main concern. Her main concern was the trembling, green-garbed pixie-like creature that was staring back at her from behind the row of beds.

Tufts of brown hair stuck out from under his pointed, white-rimmed hat, and his green collar was pulled up over his face. His ears were long and triangular. Six other pointed hats of various colours poked out beside him from behind the beds, quaking slightly. For a long moment she and the green pixy stared at each other—until he started to scream.

Claire was now officially terrified. She screamed right back at him, which only frightened him further. The pixy burst into tears and ran off towards the door, bawling, as the six hats popped up together to reveal six more pixy faces. As one they turned to watch the green sprite flee out the door and into the lawn. Then, slowly, they turned to face Claire.

"It's her," one of them whispered reverently.

Panting, she looked back at them guardedly. The one in the purple rose up to his tiptoes and crawled onto one of the beds, staring at her curiously. Claire backed away.

"You can still see us, budum?" he asked, his eyes shining with hope.

She narrowed her eyes at him. His clothes were the exact same shade as—"Purple flash!" she blurted.

Purple Flash stared back at her blankly. "Do you think that's my name, budum?"

"I—uh…" Claire blinked, slowly shaking her head. "I guess not…"

"Let me reintroduce myself!" Purple Flash cried excitedly. "I'm Bold!"

"Yay, a meet-and-greet!" the one in red exclaimed. "I'll make us some food!"

The one in yellow flapped his arms in ecstasy. "YAAAYY! Yummy fooooood!"

Bold? That sounded suspiciously seven-dwarfish to Claire. She slowly looked the yellow pixy over. "Let me guess…you're Hungry…?"

The yellow one pouted. "That name was taken! So I'm Hoggy," he answered proudly, sticking out his small chest.

"Are….you Hungry, then?" she wearily asked the one in red.

He scratched his head, confused. "Not particularly, budum. I just like cooking! That's why they call me Chef!"

Purple Flash—or, Bold—looked wounded. "You don't recognize us?" he cried pitifully.

With a loud snort, the orange one suddenly shot up from where he'd been napping on the floor. His eyes slowly focused on her. "Heyyy…I remember her!"

"Are you Sleepy?" Claire asked hopefully.

"Nappy!"

"Ugh." Claire fell back on a pillow in defeat.

A sprite dressed in light aquamarine clothes tugged at Bold's sleeve. "Hey, Bold?" he said quietly, "…should we recognize her? Because…I think I do."

"Yes!" exclaimed Bold in distress. "We should all remember her! Don't you remember her from the Home?"

"I do!" Nappy piped up. "She slept on my bed then, too!"

"And mine!"

"And mine tooooo!"

The last two cries came from a navy blue pixy and the green one, who'd appeared at the door again. Claire shook her head and stared at the group, wide-eyed.

"What are you…?" she whispered. "And how do you know about the Home?"

The seven pixies fidgeted slightly, tossing each other furtive looks.

"We were your friends," Bold finally answered, gently. "You don't remember any of us, do you, budum?"

"She forgot me?" the green one wailed, tears streaming down his cheeks. "I knew she'd forget meeeeee—"

"Oh, Timid, there there…" sighed Bold.

Claire pressed herself against one of the headboards. "How do you know who I am…?"

"How's little Benjamin?" the navy blue one called happily, out of the blue. Instantly, the room fell dead silent.

Benjamin…

"_Staid_," hissed Chef through his teeth.

Claire's throat tightened painfully. That was enough of this craziness. Slipping off the rows of beds, she lowered her head and walked briskly towards the door.

"Wait!" called Staid desperately. "I'm sorry, budum! Please don't leave us again!"

She stepped out into the sunshine, clenching her fists and fighting to maintain even breaths. This was not the time to get upset—people were going to be coming by her house to see Piper and she couldn't be a trainwreck for them. She mentally kicked herself…after all these years, why couldn't she get _over _anything?

Somebody gripping her upper arm gently snapped her out of her daydream, and unconsciously she gasped.

"Claire?" Cliff's voice said, but he sounded distant. She shook her head to clear her mind. "Claire, are you alright? I heard screaming, and…hey, why are you crying?"

Hastily, she wiped her arm across her eyes and blinked fiercely. "I'm not."

"Okay," he said dubiously, "but you _were_."

"Okay," she said, her tone clipped, "I _was_."

Cliff didn't say anything, only looked at her hurtfully and released his grip on her arm. Claire didn't realize she'd been leaning on him, but as soon as he let go, she stumbled forward slightly. "Cliff!" Her voice was thick and heavy. "Cliff, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to snap at you."

"It's okay," he said quietly, not turning to look at her. She rubbed at her eyes and took a step to stand beside him.

"I mean it…I'm _so _sorry. Something just got thrown back in my face, that's all…"

"Something as in sand?" he asked, "or something as in, a bad memory?"

Claire grinned a little. "I wish it'd been sand, but no."

"Hey, I know what that's like," the man beside her murmured. "But…you don't have to run back out here to hide it…that's what the church and Carter are for, you know..?"

"I guess."

Cliff turned to face her sidelong. "Carter's right about you," he declared suddenly. Claire raised an eyebrow.

"How?"

"You _do _internalize too much."

"What?" she demanded, indignant. "He talks to you about me internalizing? !"

Cliff grinned and gave a non-committal shrug. "Hey, don't you have a baby open-house or something today?"

Her mouth fell open. "Uhh—right. I'd better get on that. Um…see you later, Cliff!" She began to race off towards the main road.

"Good luck," he called after her. "I hope someone adopts him. And, um…" He shuffled awkwardly around to face her, looking her determinedly in the eye. "If, um, there's ever anything you want to talk about—um—I'll listen."

The farmer's face broke into a warm smile. "Thanks, Cliff. Same goes for you too, okay?" He nodded, smiling shyly back.

"'Kay, cool. Take care."

Cliff watched her go until she was out of sight, then stuffed his hands in his pockets and slowly walked back to the small bamboo-house that he'd seen her run out of. Poking his head inside, he quickly gave it a once-over.

The place looked like it hadn't seen the light of day in years. The furniture was covered in dust and cobwebs; lamps stood dormant on cupboard tops and the kitchen was rusting. Several of the chairs placed at the table lay broken on the floor.

"Hmm," Cliff murmured. "Guess there really is nothing back here…"

Although Carter had been telling him that ever since he arrived, the traveler couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

.:.:::.:.

**A/N: I know, I know, it was kind of long and spazzy. :3 But, all the same, I hope you liked it! Either way, please leave me a review with your thoughts and opinions-I still want to hear who you think Claire should end up with. I'm wondering if any opinions will change over time. Anyway, thanks so much for reading! Ciao ^^**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: You guys continue to amaze me with your awesome reviewing/favouriting/alerting! Thank you all so much~ ^^**

**This isn't the "Gray babysitting" chapter that a few people have been asking for, but it's on its way, I promise. :)**

**Disclaimer: I once owned Harvest Moon...and then I woke up.**

**.:.:::.:.**

"Well, besides the ankle, you seem to be fit as ever." Doctor T stood up from where he'd been kneeling to test Barley's reflexes in the old farmer's house and tucked his small hammer back into his medical bag. "I think that'll be all for today, Barley. Just try to stay off that foot for awhile, and it'll heal right up."

"Oh, wonderful! That's such a relief to hear," the old man tittered, trailing after the doctor as he headed towards the door. "Never know what to expect, what with these old bones of mine creakin' somethin' awful!"

Doctor paused at the door and turned to look at him. "I don't mean to pressure you or anything, but it may be in your health's best interest if you looked into retirement. Your line of work is rather strenuous…" He broke off just before finishing with "for someone your age".

Barley chuckled, adjusting his glasses. "Well, thank ya for the suggestion, son, but I really don't think that's an option. Besides, I can't just abandon my old girls!"

The dark-haired man looked like he wanted to argue, but only shrugged. "Fair enough. Come by if you have any concerns."

"G'day lad," Barley returned. He watched thoughtfully as the doctor stepped out into the rain, pulling his collar up high against the steady sheet of droplets. "Er, um. Doctor?"

Already fairly soaked, Doctor turned back around and squinted through the rain at the old man. "Yes?" he asked, eager to return to the dry warmth of the clinic.

"Mind doing me a favour?"

"Of course not." He tossed his dripping bangs out of his eyes and looked expectantly at Barley, trying not to shiver too obviously.

"Weeeeeell…" Barley began, painstakingly slowly. "Ya seeeeeee…there's this here foal t'was born….and, ya seeee…well, the problem issssssss…"

"Yes?" Doctor prompted through a clenched jaw. His white coat was now soaked through and he could feel the chill of the rain pressing through to his chest.

"Well, it's not doing too well," Barley finally admitted. "I was thinkin' maybe Claire could take it in. New environment, ya know? Less hectic. Maybe it'd do a little better."

Doctor's brow furrowed. "Are you sure she has the means to take care of it? She seems a little busy, if you ask me."

"Nah. She visits everyone almost every day. Can't be that busy, sonny."

"Hmm…" The doctor wasn't convinced.

"Well anyways," the rancher continued, waving his arms dismissively. "I was wondrin', seeing as yer goin' down that way and all, if you could do an old man a favour 'n deliver 'er the foal?"

Doctor blinked. "I wasn't actually heading ov—" he began, but stopped abruptly as Barley went hobbling by him, aiming for the barn. "Hey, wait! Stay off the foot!" He caught up with the rancher in time to be herded into inside the big wooden building. "Uhh—"

"This'un right here," Barley stated proudly, gesturing to a skinny, long-legged chestnut foal and ignoring the physician's protests as he wandered over to it. Doctor groaned inwardly as he watched the gauze on the older man's foot begin to unravel. "Think ya could bring it over to her?"

"Yes, yes, fine," the doctor sighed. "Just stop—running around!" Barley smiled smugly and clipped a lead rope to the colt's halter before handing it over to him.

"Wonderful," he said, directing the doctor towards Claire's ranch. "Much obliged!"

And that's how Doctor Trent found himself standing awkwardly outside Shire Farm, in the rain, with a miniature horse that kept trying to eat his soaked lab coat in tow. This was not his day.

.:.:::.:.

The open house was a humungous failure.

Oh, people showed up, all right—just about everyone in town, in fact. And they were suitably charmed by Piper, too. Yes, they told Claire what a wonderful adorable and perfectly good little boy he was; some people even congratulated her, as if it were a _good_ thing to have a mysterious anonymous baby show up on your doorstep. They pinched his cheek and offered to come by and babysit; Doctor dropped off more formula, which let Claire know that he pretty much considered this long-term.

But no one, not_ one single person_, said anything about adopting him.

And why wouldn't it stop raining? It had rained for two straight days. _Two straight days_—that was unheard of, where Claire had come from. Maybe they would have had rain for two days, but certainly not two days of nonstop, endless, day-and-night rain like this.

Claire _had_ thought of a temporary solution to her feed-everybody problem: They could graze on the grass on her farm! Animals ate grass, grass was plentiful on her plot—and this was her favourite part: grass was FREE.

But animals couldn't graze in the rain. No, they got _grumpy _if she made them graze in the rain, Claire mused sourly. It was almost as though the Harvest Goddess were perching on the roof of her dismal little farmhouse and smugly observing her life go from bad to worse, giggling to herself all the while.

So, Claire had to go and shell out precious G for a few bushels chicken feed and fodder, which was even more expensive and she needed more of. And on top of all of that, rain was just plain dreary.

_I bet all of May's posters are tearing and disintegrating_, Claire thought dismally to herself as she watched raindrops race down her cloudy window pane. The excited pigtailed girl had bounced over to her farmhouse the previous day just to show the farmer the fruits of her labour: a series of posters with large crayon drawings of a happy Piper, complete with phrases such as "Adopt Me, I Need U" beneath. Claire had desperately hoped that the innocent childishness of them would tug on somebody's heartstrings, but so far nobody had bitten. And now that the posters were probably destroyed, the townspeople were likely to forget about Piper and the whole incident…

Her eyebrows drew together in puzzlement as she caught sight of a dark figure moving stealthily through the rain, making a beeline to her front door. She narrowed her eyes, trying to make out who or what it was—when it turned slightly, she realized that it was pulling something fairly large along behind it.

Claire frowned. It was probably Won with a wheelbarrow of his stupid apples, or something. She rose from her perch in front of the window and slowly made her way over to the door in anticipation.

_Knock, knock_!

The farmer opened the door and was unsurprised to meet the slanted, sly eyes of the town's resident con man. "Hello farmer!" he chirped, rainwater running down his cheek and dripping from his chin. "Today I bring great deal for you!"

"Won, please," Claire sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration. "We've been over this. I'm still not interested in any of your angel eternal holy light avenged sevenfold apples, or whatever the heck they are, thank you. Please stop trying to sell them to me—it hasn't even been a _week_ since you came here last!"

"Very well," he said sourly, throwing back the tarp covering on the wagon behind him. "No apple. Your house very plain—what your house need is THIS!"

Claire looked sceptically at the vase he thrust at her. "Won. That's way too luxurious for me. I don't want to buy anything, thanks. Please go home, it's pouring rain." She began to close the door.

"Wait, farmer!" Won cried, throwing his arm in between the door and the frame to stop her. "I offer you one last great deal! Special for you!"

She tried unsuccessfully to contain her growl, glaring resentfully at the arm hanging inside her house.

"Yes, special offer!" Again, he pulled out the three red apples. Claire groaned. "Just 500G. This one—"

"_No, _Won! _Please_," she added pleadingly. Won's eyes widened slightly, and he withdrew his arm.

"You don't even have 500G?" he asked, shaking his head. "What a poor girl you are." Quickly he repacked his tarp-covered wagon and began pulling it away.

"I KNOW!" Claire yelled after him, slamming her door shut and scampering back to the window. There, she set her jaw and glared at his retreating form until it disappeared. _That_, she thought grumpily to herself, _was just rude._

Just as she began to resume watching the raindrop races, another shifting form in the bleak grey rain caught her eye. She tilted her head, curious. Who _else _would come visit her in the pouring rain, unless they wanted something?

The figure turned to the side, and Claire gasped aloud. It, too, was pulling something large and gangly. Won _again_? The nerve of some people; calling you poor and then coming back to pester you for more money…

Before he could reach the door, the farmer rose from her window seat and strode over to it. As soon as she heard the telltale shuffling that told her someone had arrived on her doorstep, she pulled the door open and glared out into the rain with her arms crossed.

Immediately, her eyes widened and a hand flew to her mouth in surprise. Where she'd been expecting to see Won trying to market the same apples under different names to her stood a particularly forlorn-looking, bedraggled Dr. Trent in a drenched lab coat, his fist raised to knock.

For a brief moment, they both blinked at each other, slightly stunned. The doctor was the first to snap out of it.

"Uh—" he began.

"Goddess, Doctor!" she interrupted, grabbing his forearm to pull him inside. "What are you _doing_? It's dumping the ocean on us out there! Come in, come in—"

"Wait, hold on, Claire!" he protested, resisting against her. "It's fine, I don't have to come in. I just came to bring you this." He gave a light tug on something in his hands. Claire's eyes dropped, puzzled, and she realized with dread that he was holding a lead rope.

"No!" she groaned. "Not you too!"

"Huh?" A little head peeked around from behind the doctor, nostrils flaring. Claire's breath caught in her throat. It was—it was a little foal… "What do you mean, me too?"

Claire stared at the colt, desperately wanting to take it in; it looked so sad with its rain-slicked chestnut coat and large doleful eyes. She turned back to the doctor, her shoulders slumped. "Please stop doing this…"

"Doing what?" he demanded, baffled. She gestured in frustration at the foal behind him.

"You, and Gray, and Cliff—buying me expensive things I can't turn down—I can't, I just don't have—enough—for anything, and I don't know—everybody keeps acting like they need to sponsor this." Her eyes flashed. "You _don't_. I know I'm a girl, okay? I know I look frail. Alright? But—I don't need all…this," she finished weakly, looking sadly at the foal. Try as she might to convince herself she couldn't handle him, her heart ached for him.

Doctor stared at her for a minute. "Look, Claire…Barley's giving him to you not as a pity gift or anything, but because he…um. Because he genuinely thinks you have what it takes to raise him." It was partially true… "So could you please just show me where the stable is so I can dry off sometime in the foreseeable future?"

"Oh," Claire said. "Wait. You didn't buy him for me?"

"No," Doctor said, barely disguising a shiver. "I'm just the delivery grunt. The _dripping _delivery grunt. So could you please…?"

"Yes, yes, of course," she said hastily, embarrassed, as she stepped out into the rain. "Here, follow me. Sorry about that, hahahaha…"

They jogged briskly across the field, the little colt trotting dutifully behind the doctor. Quickly ducking into the little rundown stable, the drenched man shook his sopping hair out of his eyes and helped Claire rub the colt down. "So what were you saying about people buying you stuff…?"

"Oh," the farmer said, blushing and concentrating harder on the towel she was drying the colt off with. "Um…yeah. The other day Cliff brought me a chicken and Gray brought me a cow and a sheep, so I just sort of assumed…you know, another person showing up with livestock…"

"I see," the doctor said, the corner of his mouth twitching upwards. Interesting that Gray had gone and outspent him…was there some kind of competition between them that he didn't know about yet?

"And about your money…" Claire continued. "Well, I don't have it quite yet, but I won't forget about it, I promise!"

"Don't worry about it." He got to his feet and stretched. "So you think you'll keep him?"

Claire sighed and gently stroked the colt's short, scraggly mane. "I'd like to, I love horses. And he's beautiful. He looks like he needs someone, doesn't he?"

Trent looked back and forth between them. It seemed to him that both the farmer and the gawky colt shared a common lonely, distant look in their deep eyes. "Yes, he does," he agreed as Claire wrapped her arms around the little foal's neck. Bobbing his head, the tiny chestnut sniffed at her hair and nibbled on the rough denim of her overalls.

"Mmm. I think I might just have to keep you, buddy! Wait," she said suddenly, turning to look at the doctor. "I have an idea! What if I boarded him here for someone? You know…like I took care of him and exercised him and everything, but someone else technically owned him, and paid for feed and stuff? Do you think that would work?"

Doctor stepped back and bit his lower lip. She looked so earnest and hopeful... "It could," he said carefully, "but you'd have to find someone willing to pay all that money."

"Oh, I'd make it cheap! Before long, I won't even need the money really, right? Do you know anyone in town who would board a horse?" Though just a question, her tone seemed to plead with him to tell her he did. The truth was he didn't, but he hated to disappoint her.

"I would."

Claire's eyes widened. He didn't know why he said it, the words just slipped out of his mouth—he didn't know _anything _about horses! But as soon as her face broke into that radiant smile, he knew he'd done the right thing. She could keep the horse _and _make money off it…win-win situation, right?

"Really? That's fantastic! I wouldn't have figured you for a horse guy, but I'm not complaining!"

Another idea popped into his head. "And hey, how about you consider the cow as the first payment? That way you won't have to worry about paying me back for her. Sound good?"

"Sounds GREAT!"

_Win-win-win_, Trent thought smugly as he watched Claire prance around the stable. But her next question threw him off.

"So! Your little foal now! What're ya going to call him?"

"Uhhhhhhh…" he gulped. He was a doctor, not a fashion designer, for crying out loud! _Not creative_! "Well…he's…kind of brown, so…I don't know…...Brownie?" Claire stared at him, unimpressed. "_What_?"

"Really, Doctor?" she asked, crossing her arms. "Is that the best you could come up with?"

"_Yes_," he answered defensively. "It is, actually!"

She rolled her eyes. "Woooow. Tell you what, you can think it over while enjoying a cup of hot chocolate inside!"

The two sprinted off through the rain for the safety of Claire's partially leaky roof. They would later discover that mice had chewed through the remainder of her hot chocolate powder packets, and Claire would be forced to serve her guest plain water. But for the time being, the three Harvest Sprites crouching by the door of the stable were content.

"Yay! The Horse Heist Manoeuvre was a roaring success, comrades!" Comrade Bold cried, bumping fists with Comrade Chef and Comrade Timid.

"Hehehe," snickered Comrade Chef. "Just wait till those silly Operation Blue Feather budums hear about this!"

"THEY'LL BE HUMILIATED BY OUR SUCCESS!" roared Comrade Timid, to the immense surprise of Comrades Bold and Chef.

For the Sprite War had only just begun...

.:.:::.:.

**A/N: I kind of hate this chapter, but I couldn't get it to go any differently. *sigh* I promise the next one will be better!**

** ^^ couldn't resist putting Timid waaaaay OOC there. (On a related note, let me know if you think I should stop writing at 4:30 in the morning.) And what's up with me writing Barley as some kind of scheming old man? O.O; I don't know either. But it's kinda fun... Anyway! So coming up: Operation Blue Feather! **

**Oh, and I love horses, but I can never think of good names for them. I seriously have a chocolate-brown Barbie horse that I named Brownie when I was little. Any of you wonderful people have any suggestions for Trent? *cough* me.. *cough* :S Please share them! And let me know what you thought of this chapter, if you get a chance :3 Thanks for reading!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Just wanted to briefly ('cuz no one likes long A/Ns...) thank everyone SO much for all their awesome support for this little story. I truly love hearing from all of you, and I owe you a lot! :)**

**Also~ credit goes to Akasya Wolf for part of Kai's background introduced here. I've modified her idea a little bit to fit what I also had planned for him, but substantial credit is owed to her! (since I'm not done with Kai yet...*rubs hands together eagerly*)**

**Disclaimer: I did not gain a big gaming company overnight. So no, I still don't own Harvest Moon.**

.:.:::.:.

"A blonde, huh?"

Gray looked over his newly arrived friend suspiciously and saw that he was grinning. The two were walking down the path from the smithy to Claire's farm; the suntanned man had arrived much later in the season than he usually did due to "circumstances" and had immediately become very interested in the new girl everyone was still talking about.

"Yeeees," the blacksmith replied slowly.

"Awriiight! I like blondes." With a grin, Kai casually reached up and adjusted his purple bandana, causing Gray to roll his eyes.

"With that cocky attitude, I don't think _she'll _like _you_," he muttered darkly. Kai only laughed. As they stepped onto the farm, the cook glanced around dubiously.

"Wait, wait, wait. Hold up a sec. _This _is where she lives?" he demanded. "Is the girl crazy?"

Gray shrugged, smirking. "I guess you could say that. Oh, and by the way, she's also got a kid." He walked over to the door and knocked on it, enjoying Kai's stunned expression. He was definitely looking forward to Claire's reaction when she was introduced to the breezy, carefree beach boy.

Kai's brown eyes widened like saucers. "She's got a—?"

"Yes," a female voice cut in smoothly, "but _someone _forgot to mention that it's not mine, _Gray_."

The blacksmith gave a little start of surprise and whirled around; behind him, Kai mirrored his movement exactly and came face-to-face with a—_cute blonde chick_, he thought, grinning boyishly at her. Almost as quickly as the smile had appeared, it began to fade as something in his mind clicked puzzlingly. He hesitantly stepped toward her, his brow furrowing and charming smile disappearing; something about her just seemed—_familiar_.

She returned the smile uncertainly, tilting her head to the side and looking him over curiously. Claire couldn't put her finger on it, but there was just something about his lopsided, casual smile and brown eyes that rang a bell. Unconsciously, she inched closer as well, narrowing her eyes slightly as she strained to figure out what was so darn—_familiar._

Gray cleared his throat and both Kai and Claire whirled to look at him, awkwardly directing their eyes away from each other. He gestured at his bandana'd friend and said, "Claire, he's not going to murder you, stop looking at him like that…anyway, meet my friend Kai. He travels during the summer, but he's from the city like me. And Kai, this is Claire…the new farmer."

_Claire_, Kai thought dully as she smiled uncertainly at him. _There are a thousand girls named Claire. _At the same time, the blonde girl across from him was thinking, _Kai! There aren't many people named Kai—and he looks like—it might be…_

"Nice to meet you," she said aloud, one eye still closed thoughtfully. She held out her hand to him.

"Charmed!" Kai purred as he gripped her hand and gave it a good shake.

Claire withdrew her arm, still giving him an odd look, and took another step toward him. "Um…I'm sorry if this is a weird question or anything, but…just so I can clear it up…I feel like we've met before. Am I crazy?"

Kai took a step closer, lowering his eyes to look directly into her face. Claire was startled and took a step back, but the beach boy only took another step forward to close the distance. Claire took another step back. Kai was about to take another step forward, but Gray reached out and grabbed his shoulder before he could. "What are you _doing_, man?"

"I was just trying to see if she has the flamingo-shaped scar!" Kai insisted innocently, but only confused Gray further.

"Flamingo-shaped scar…?" he repeated, his jaw dropping slightly. He turned to shoot Claire an apologetic look for his loony pal, but realized she wasn't paying any attention to him. She was staring at Kai, her own mouth slightly ajar.

"Oh my Goddess!" she shrieked. "It _is _you!"

"It is? !" Kai yelled back excitedly.

"Yeah!" Claire brushed aside her bangs to reveal her forehead, which was plainly marked on one side with a distinctively bird-shaped blemish.

"Get out!" Kai roared. "No way! CLAIRE! Come here!" He closed the distance between them with a single step and enveloped her in a big bear hug. "I haven't seen you in _ages_! How the heck are ya? !"

"Get off me, you're killing the baby!" came her muffled reply from wherever she was buried in his white shirt. Laughing, he released her and mussed her hair fondly.

"Just as much of a spazz as ever about babies I see!"

She peeked inside her sling to make sure Piper was still breathing, Kai hanging over her shoulder and noticing the knitted baby sling slung over Claire's shoulder for the first time. "Slick! A mini-man!" He stuck his index finger inside at the baby, who clamped onto it forcefully. "Uhh—wow, he's got a good grip…"

Claire grinned. "It's so good to see you again! How long has it been, like, 15 years? You still kind of look the same, though," she giggled.

"Wait, wait wait wait wait wait," Gray interrupted. "Let me get this straight….you two actually know each other?"

Kai beamed at the blacksmith and dropped one arm loosely around Claire's shoulders. "Heck yeah! We used to get into all kinds of trouble when we were little!"

"_We_?" Claire repeated. "Nuh-uh! Just you, Mr. I'm-going-to-fill-the-sugar-bowl-with-salt!"

Kai sighed contentedly and looked off into the distance. "That was a good prank."

"You—you both—" Gray tried again, unsuccessfully attempting to wrap his head around the idea that the two of them were childhood friends. "_When_?"

"When we were kids!" Kai exclaimed brightly.

"You lived on the same street or something?—"

"Nope! Same big old house on the sea."

Gray stared at them helplessly. "Then you're…step-siblings."

Claire was cringing more and more the closer Gray got to the truth. "Something like that," she said hurriedly as Kai opened his mouth to answer. She ducked out from under his arm and began making her way back to her house to lie Piper down for his nap. "Well, hey, it's awesome seeing you again, Kai, but I have a lot of stuff to do—can you come by later, maybe? To talk?"

"Yeah!" Kai exclaimed. "Sure! Love to!"

"Okay." She opened the door. "See ya then. Sorry, but I've really got to get him down for his nap. Bye, Gray!"

The blacksmith blinked, the sound of his name jarring him out of his confused stupor. "Wa—wait! Later tonight? Claire, does that mean you're not going to the party?"

The blonde paused on the threshold of her door. "Party…?"

Gray tugged awkwardly on his cap. "We always have a beach party when Kai arrives, which is usually earlier in the season—but we're having it tonight since he arrived today."

She stared at him blankly. "I—didn't know about this…are you sure I was even invited?" In response, the smith nodded towards her mailbox where she noticed a small white envelope poking out. "Oh."

Kai beamed. "Yeah! You totally have to come. I want to reintroduce you to everyone as my new-again best friend! You'll be there, right?"

Claire's mouth thinned into a line, emotions conflicting violently inside her. There was the excitement and happiness, of course, of seeing Kai again—seeing the man he'd grown into, seeing him healthy and well. There was also some pain, some sadness, some regret. The feelings that the resurfacing memories Kai's presence brought along. And right now, she wasn't sure if she wanted to be around anyone else as she sorted her feelings out; the last thing she wanted to do was go to a _party_.

"Umm—well, I do have Piper to look after and everything, so I don't know if I can actually..."

"Pshaaaw! No worries!" Kai insisted.

Gray nodded. "Yeah, you could probably just ask someone else to look after him for the night, you know…"

Claire could plainly see that she was not going to win this war and resigned herself to her fate. "Oh, okay," she breathed. "Sounds…fun. Hey, Gray…"

His eyes widened as she sashayed over to him. "Yes..?"

Her face breaking into a huge smile, she said, "WANNA WATCH PIPER TONIGHT?"

"Haw haw haw," he replied drily. She didn't move, just kept grinning at him, and he realized she was serious. "Awww…fine, fine!"

Claire blinked, and then giggled. "Hahaha…I was just kidding. I'll probably just ask Ellen or something." She moved to head back into the house, Kai hanging over her shoulder to sneak a peek inside.

Gray's brow furrowed as he watched the baby squirming in Claire's arms, an emotion he didn't recognize briefly flitting across her face as she glanced down at him. She needed this favour. "No—Claire, it's fine! I'll watch over him if you want."

She turned around to look at him. "Hm? No, I don't want you to miss the party. It won't be a problem to—"

The blacksmith stopped her short as he cut in front of her, scooping the baby out of her arms. "Stop arguing before I change my mind!"

Claire stepped back and grinned as she watched him wander inside and look around, already confused. "Are you sure?"

"Sure I'm sure! Just go do your farming thing and I'll take care of things from here."

"Oookay~," Claire sang. "Just make sure my house is still here when I come back!" She skipped off the doorstep and right by Kai.

From inside the tiny dwelling, Gray scoffed. "There isn't even an oven in here for me to catch anything on fire, Claire! Have a little faith!"

As the door closed behind him, she felt her heart give an odd little leap. Now—right now—she didn't have to worry about Piper. Not for the rest of the day or the whole night. She felt liberated. She felt free! "Let's go do something crazy, Kai! To celebrate our reunion!"

He was quickly caught up in her energy. "Like what!"

"Like…go FISHING!"

"YEAH!" His face fell. "Claire. That's not even borderline crazy."

"You're right." She slumped down on her doorstep. "And I don't have a fishing pole besides. Hmmm…I have an idea!"

"A better idea than going to my beach shack to relax and catch up over some pineapple cocktails?"

"YES!"

Now Kai was interested. "Yeah? What?"

"How about…" she said, standing up, "you and me…go brush and exercise a colt? !"

Kai was caught completely off guard by that. "Wait, what? You want to do farm chores?"

"Yeah! Now that I don't have to sit in there while the baby naps, I can finish my chores early and then I can go find some food somewhere and then…" She prattled on, listing the _fun_ things they could do and ticking them off on her fingers.

Kai stared at her blankly. "Claire, you have a boring life."

.:.:::.:.

"Oh…it's a…beach party." Claire stood at the ocean's shore, just out of reach of the lapping waves, and looked over it apprehensively.

"Yep." Kai rested an elbow on her shoulder and looked out at the water. "I'm pretty sure Gray mentioned that."

She made a scoffing sound. "Pshaw. As if I listen to _him_."

Just then, Popuri popped up beside the beach boy, wearing a pink, checkered, frilly bikini. "Hi Kai! You're late this year!" Then she noticed Claire. "Claire, don't you have a bathing suit?"

"Nope." The farmer was still staring at the water at her feet.

"Oh. Hey KAREN!" Popuri hollered, bouncing away. Before the farmer knew it, she found herself in a small closet-like changing room in the Supermarket, slipping on a green bathing suit that Karen had found in her size.

She poked and pulled at the swimsuit, not having worn one in—fifteen years, anyway. Dimly she remembered swimming in the ocean by the Home, with Kai and some of the others. As she went to open the door to leave, she caught sight of her refection in the full-length mirror stashed in the corner.

She sighed at her image in the bright light. Her blonde hair looked pale and stringy; her skin looked washed out and her blue eyes looked tired.

But then, so did the rest of her.

Claire leaned forward, brushing her bangs impatiently out of her eyes to get a good look at her flamingo scar. There it stood, as bold as ever, just above her left eyebrow. It was more peacock-shaped than flamingo, she realized, examining it closely for the first time in probably a decade. But it had been deemed flamingo-shaped in her childhood, and the name just stuck.

Exhaling softly, she allowed her bangs to flip obstinately back into her eyes and conceal the mark once more. She preferred it to be hidden. That way, nobody asked probing questions about it and she herself didn't have to look at the ugly thing every time she glanced in a mirror. She preferred _not _to think on how it was obtained.

Someone was knocking on the door. "Claire, honey?" Sasha's voice asked. "You all right in there? The suit fit alright?"

"Yes, thanks," Claire hastily replied, scooping her pile of clothes in her arms and stepping out of the change room.

"Good!" Sasha turned away and headed for the door. "Everyone always looks forward to this event. Wouldn't want you to miss it on a wardrobe malfunction!"

.:.:::.:.

Back at the beach, the sun was setting and casting a warm orange glow across the sand. Rick sat at a beach table across from Karen, smiling as he placed an order with Kai and the waiter/cook ambled off to prepare the food.

Underneath their table, the four tiny members of Team Blue Feather were huddled. "Okay, listen up!" Budum Staid hissed. "It is zero hour! When Purple Bandana puts the food on the counter, Budum Hoggy will run up to it and quickly put this—" He brandished a pristine blue feather. "—on the platter. Roger that?"

"Ten-four!" chirruped Budum Aqua. They all peered out from under the table and watched as Kai, whistling, whipped up a couple of sandwiches and tossed them on a platter before heading off to prepare the drinks.

"Go! Go! Go!" whispered Budum Staid, giving Budum Hoggy a good shove. The yellow Sprite grabbed the feather and sprinted off through the sand, clambering up onto the counter the cook had set up. He began to tuck the feather under one of the sandwiches and then seemed to see the food for the first time. The rest of Team Blue Feather shook their heads and gestured wildly to deter him, but he ignored them and dug right into the food.

"Aw, what!" groaned Kai, returning to find a mangled sandwich on the platter. "Someone owes me money! No such thing as free food, you know!"

Back under the table, Budums Staid and Aqua facepalmed. "Whose idea was it to send HOGGY near the sandwiches…?" groaned the darker of the two blue sprites. As one, they both turned to gaze accusingly at the snoozing Budum Nappy who was, as usual, not really paying attention. "Ugh…"

Budum Hoggy seemed to finally remember his mission and sidestepped out of the way as Kai grudgingly replaced Karen's sandwich. As he lifted the platter up, the yellow sprite poked the Blue Feather under the rim of the plate and then leapt off to the ground. After scurrying back under the table, he exchanged high-fives with his fellow Budums and waited eagerly for the reaction from above.

"Mmm, looks good, Kai," Karen giggled, as he set down the platter. Even Rick had to agree.

"Bon appétit!" the waiter replied, smirking and giving a small bow as he backed away. Karen turned back to her boyfriend with a grin and raised her wine glass.

"To us!" she declared, and hiccupped. She was already a little drunk from the punch.

"To us," Rick echoed, lightly touching his glass to hers. They drank deeply and then turned back to their sandwiches.

Karen's eyes widened. "R-Rick?" she asked, in a strange voice.

"Hm?"

Slowly, she slid the Blue Feather out from underneath her plate. Rick's jaw slackened as he looked at the item, incredulous. "Rick…? Did you…? Are you….?"

"KAI," the chicken farmer fumed. The cook had planted the blue feather under Karen's plate! It was one thing to flirt with his sister—it was another to PROPOSE TO HIS GIRLFRIEND! Pushing back his chair, he blasted into the restaurant with murder in his eyes.

Karen slumped in her chair. Underneath the picnic table, Team Blue Feather deflated and groaned.

"Humans mess everything up!" Budum Aqua complained. Budum Hoggy rubbed his eyes morosely.

"How could she not think he was proposing?" he whined.

"She did," Budum Staid sighed. "_He_ just didn't realize that he was proposing. This will have to be remedied!"

"Oh well," yawned Budum Nappy. He'd slept through the whole thing, but he hadn't expected it to work anyway. "Silly Team Horse Heist…they were probably unsuccessful too!"

"Yeah!" agreed Budum Hoggy. They were a little cheered at the thought of the remaining three Harvest Sprites failing as badly as they did with their operation. "As if planting the idea in Barley's mind of giving a horse to Claire and getting some young guy to bring it over to her would EVER work!"

.:.:::.:.

**A/N: SO glad I finally got this one done. x_x**

**Anyway, advanced the plot a bit. Anyone have any theories what's going on with the Sprite War? ^^**

**Thanks for reading! And please do leave me a review if you get a chance, and if you want to drop off any ideas (I'd love to put them somewhere) feel free to add them too. C:**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I can't tell you guys enough how amazing you are. I absolutely love hearing from you, so thank you so much for all your support! ^^ (that was short and painless, right? riiiiight? :D)**

**Oh! I lied, one more thing****. I'd like to thank Blue hydrangea, Knight, and Panda for their reviews here, since I can't send thank-you messages to anons. (Jeez guys! :P) Thank you! ^^**

**Disclaimer: Strangely enough, though I said this last chapter, I still don't own Harvest Moon. **

_.:.:::.:._

_She stared out at the ocean, out past the buoys and the docks and the sand bars; out at the vast, endless, and deceptively tranquil water. The sun was setting, casting a warm pink-orange glow over the white-capped waves. Squinting, she strained to make out the dark silhouette of the boat that she knew had to be coming—just had to be. They said they'd be here._

_Someone scuffed up in the sand beside her, but she didn't spare them a glance. She had eyes for only the sea. They stood side by side in peaceful silence, barely aware of the other's presence, waiting and watching—always watching—until the familiar bell of the Home rang somewhere in the distance behind them, letting them know it was time to go in._

_Neither moved. She squeezed the small baby in her arms tighter, pressing him close to her chest, and felt him wriggle weakly in her too-tight grip._

"_I'm Kaidan Michael Lockwood," said a childish boy's voice beside her, "and my parents are coming for me."_

_She turned to look at him, noting his olive skin tone and driven brown eyes. This boy she recognized; he was a little older than her and had been one of the others from the boat. There had been a few of them that washed up on the shore that day, but like her, he tended to keep to himself._

_The young girl returned his determined look with a fierce, fearless one of her own. "I'm Claire Michelle Reid and this—" she hefted Ben up higher, barely able to support his weight in her chubby little-girl arms, "—is Benjamin Ross Reid and he's my baby brother and our parents are coming for us, too."_

.:.:::.:.

"Another margarita, Claaaaaire?"

The farmer jumped in surprise and stepped away from the shore of the ocean's inky waters, blackened from the heavy darkness of the summer night, and turned to look at the tipsy young man who'd stumbled up to her with a margarita sloshing over the rim of its glass. "Kai! Stop drinking!"

"Bu…bu….buh why, Claire?" he asked with a goofy grin, swaying slightly to the left. "Thish ish a day…TO BE CELEBRATEDDD!"

She frowned distastefully and plucked the glass from his hands. "Yeah, not like this, Kai! You're going to have the worst day of your life tomorrow…"

"NUH! Not after…" He hiccupped, frowned in puzzlement, and continued. "…Not after the besht day of mah lahfe tuhday..!"

Claire couldn't help but laugh. "Aw, Kai! Have I told you lately how good it is to see you again? You're staying for the rest of the summer, right?"

"YESH!" he exclaimed. The farmer stiffened in surprise as he threw himself at her, leaning heavily against her with his arms wrapped loosely around her shoulders. After a few seconds she realized it was a drunken-Kai-hug and threw her arms around his torso to hug him back. "And, CLAIRE?"

"Yes, KAI?" she yelled back in his ear.

"Can I…Can I tell you shomethin'?"

"Anything." Claire turned her face away from his slightly, trying to get some fresh air instead of the smothering smell of alcohol on his breath.

"I'm broke," he blissfully announced, resting his head on her shoulder and closing his eyes. Claire stared at him for a second before rolling her shoulder to wake him up. He looked at her sullenly. "Tch…why you gotta be like tha'?"

"Kai! You're broke? Where are you _staying_?" she cried.

"Nn…N…Nowheresh," he answered thoughtfully, his brow creasing. "Buh I though' o' shomethin'…wha wazzit….OH YEAH!"

"Look, I love you, but you've got to stop yelling stuff in my ear…" the farmer complained, rubbing the ear in question.

Kai ignored her. "Whah' don' Ah shtay wi' chuuuuuu?" he drawled drunkenly.

"What?" Claire asked blankly. "Stay with—are you _serious_?"

In reply, the beach boy only nodded contentedly and watched her face through half-lidded eyes. Claire stared back in disbelief.

"Um, Kai! I know you're smashed and all but _think about it_! Really! Have you _seen _the place? The house is—the house is falling apart and the roof leaks a little when it rains, which is a lot, I barely have a kitchen, the mattress is stuffed with STRAW, rats eat my hot chocolate packets—_rats_, Kai!—I have a bunch of animals to take care of and myself to feed PLUS a baby—"

"Wasss' yah point?" the tanned man slurred. "I dun…I dun see the problem…"

Claire could only stare at him. Finally she uttered in a flat tone, "My _point_? My point is, where will you sleep?" She rolled her eyes.

"OH!" He threw his arms up happily. "AH' KNOW THISSSHH. ON THA' FLOOOOR!"

"Kai…" Claire sighed and looked down at her feet, pinching the bridge of her nose. "What I meant was…I don't think it's really a good idea to…" And then, she made the mistake of looking up.

Her eyes instantly met with two of the biggest, brownest, saddest, most imploring puppy dog eyes she'd ever seen in her life—rivaled only by the pair she used to get from him as a little boy. "Buh' Claaaire…." he slurred dejectedly. "…Ah haff' nowhere ta…ta go…"

"Kai…" she whined. "Don't do this to meeeee…"

"Buh'….Claire," he pouted, "yah' mah bessht fraand…'n we jush' met up…'n I missshed chu…SO MUUUCH!"

"I missed you too," she cried helplessly, "but—"

"Pleeeashe, Claire?"

She was startled by how earnest his tone suddenly became, and his eyes, if possible, became even bigger, browner, sadder, and more imploring. She sighed in defeat. "Great Goddess, Kai! …Fine! But you ARE sleeping on the floor! And I'm _not _feeding you."

Kai's face instantly split into a huge, blindingly white smile. "Awriiiiigh'! Thankshh, Claire! 'Chu won' regret thishhh! I promish!"

"And a promish is a promish, right?" Claire asked teasingly, finding herself smiling. Kai was every bit as psycho as she remembered.

His face seemed to turn a little more solemn at the mention of their childhood motto. "…Righ'."

"Hey, you guys~," a girl's voice called from behind them, giving Claire no chance to reassure the beach boy. Turning, they saw Popuri racing barefoot through the sand up to them. When she reached them, she brushed a strand of blushing hair out of her eyes and breathlessly said, "The…bonfire is burning out…and…the girls were planning on…having a…sleepover at the Inn! Coming…Claire?"

The farmer shifted, her mind flashing back to Gray sitting at her house with Piper. "A sleepover? Ummm, I should really be getting back to Gray—"

"Oh, stop it," the pinkette giggled. "You sound like you're married to him! I'm sure he can babysit an eensie weensie li'l baby for a few more hours!"

"Yehhh," Kai drawled in agreement. "Take a load offff."

"I dunno—" the blonde tried again.

"Oh, don't be a stick-in-the-mud!" Popuri took Claire by the elbow and began to haul down the beach and towards Rose Square. "It'll be fun, I promise!"

"Promish ish a promish," Kai murmured.

"Everyone's going to be there! It's going to be SOOOO fun!"

This only made Claire's anxiety worse. She knew she wasn't a peaceful sleeper.

.:.:::.:.

"You're sure it won't wake up, right?" Budum Aqua whispered fearfully, clutching a snowy white chicken above his head and trying not to tremble.

"Sure I'm sure!" Budum Staid hissed back boldly. "I cast the spell on it myself! Well, go on, Budum Hoggy, throw the rock already!"

"Okay, okay! You can't rush art," the yellow Sprite grumbled, before winding up his throw and hurling a small stone at the second-floor window. It bounced off the windowpane with a healthy _thwack._

The four sprites gathered—well, three really; Nappy was sleeping—watched the window anxiously for any sign of movement. "Throw another one," Budum Staid ordered a few moments later.

Budum Hoggy complied. This time, after the rock made contact with the glass, the sprites saw a flurry of movement behind the window as someone fumbled to open it. Finally, a blond head poked out of the frame and looked around, squinting nearsightedly without its glasses.

"Aha!" cried Budum Staid triumphantly. "Okay, Budum Aqua—you know what to do!"

"Yes sir!" squeaked the tiny turquoise sprite. He bobbed the sleeping chicken up and down over his head, striving to catch the chicken rancher's attention. Evidently he did as Rick jolted forward, nearly fell out the window, and then raced back into the house to find his glasses. A moment later he burst out of the front door and made a beeline for the chicken.

"Clucky, you have to stop sleepwalking!" he complained, reaching out to pick up the chicken. Budum Aqua yelped in terror and bolted off for the pathway leading down to the smithy, still carrying the hen. "HEY! Clucky!"

Aqua ran down the path and turned north at the end, fleeing toward the Inn with Rick hot on his heels. The sprite jumped in through an open window, dodged tables, and dashed up the stairs while the hotheaded chicken farmer fumbled with the doorknob.

Once upstairs, Aqua laid a white feather at the entrance to the first door—the girls' room—and quickly ducked inside. He scoped out a sleeping Karen, who was snoring heavily, and laid a second feather by her dangling hand. His mission complete, he hid himself and Clucky under her bed and panted as he listened to Rick thump up the stairs.

Rick was cursing under his breath. He couldn't believe the chicken had run this far—he was used to it wandering, sure, but it never made it past the smithy. And why did it seem so determined to come _here_?

He froze at the top of the stairs, hearing snoring, and suddenly remembered that the girls had wanted to have some kind of slumber party after the beach party, or something. He rolled his eyes in frustration. What did it take for a guy to get a little _sleep_? Grumbling, he tried to tiptoe past their room, and froze for a second time—was that a _chicken feather _sitting outside the door?

He groaned quietly as he knelt to inspect it. Yes, it was. And the door to their room was slightly ajar. With the look of a man resigned to his fate, he carefully pushed the door open and prayed it wouldn't creak.

Luckily, it didn't. Inside the room, all of the town's young women were curled up in beds or piles of blankets on the floor. Someone whimpered in her sleep. Rick quickly glanced over each of them, wondering if Clucky had curled into bed with someone, when his eyes came to rest on Karen.

She lay flat on her back, spread starfish across the bed and snoring openly; probably a result of her heavy drinking at the party. Rick slowly approached her and looked down into her peaceful face admiringly. Beautiful dark eyelashes, hair falling lightly across her face, she looked…breathtaking.

"_Cluck_."

Rick started out of his daydream and glanced down, in the direction that the cluck had apparently come from. There he noticed another feather—but this one looked different…

He knelt to pick it up and brought it into the light of the moon shining in through the window. His eyes narrowed incredulously. "What…?" he breathed.

Beside him, Karen's green eyes snapped open before narrowing in confusion. "Rick…?" she asked with a yawn. Her dumbfounded boyfriend froze, and she raised her eyes to look at whatever he was holding up to her. Her heart stopped, thudded, and then started again. "Rick—a Blue Feather?"

"Ababababaaaa…" the chicken farmer stuttered, horrified. _Twice in one day!_

Aqua was giggling under the bed. The plan was working amazingly! And this time, there was no one else to blame it on!

"Oh, _Rick_! OF COURSE I'LL MARRY YOU!" the storekeeper's daughter cried in an elated whisper before throwing her arms around him. "And you came all the way here in the middle of the night just to propose! That is _sooooo _sweet!"

"Y-Y-Y-You will?" Rick stammered, even more confused than before. He'd just come for Clucky, he hadn't really expected to walk out of the Inn engaged…Not that he was complaining. "…Th-That's great!"

Karen giggled and kissed him on the cheek. "You're a wimp, Rick! I bet you haven't even asked Dad yet!"

Her new fiancé groaned. "Crap…" This chicken-chasing trip was turning out to be a _lot _more trouble than he bargained for.

"That's okay," she replied in a seductive whisper, running her finger along his jawbone. "There'll be time for that in the morning…"

"Y-Yeah!"

Claire, who was sleeping in the next bed over, suddenly thrashed in her sleep and rolled over to face them. Both Rick and Karen went rigid in fear and then relaxed when she remained unconscious, although they were a little thrown off by the expression on her face. It didn't look restful or peaceful, it looked almost—conflicted.

But Karen was still shaken. "Ohhh. You'd better go," she whispered to Rick, then winked. "Night-night, my future hubby! We'll talk over everything tomorrow, 'kay? I love you~!"

"Goodnight," Rick whispered back, shocked still. "I love you too, K-Karen!" And he rose from his hiding spot and practically skipped out of the room.

Karen resettled back into bed with a pleased expression and closed her eyes. _Finally!_

.:.:::.:.

_Lightning flashed in a blinding, jagged scar of white heat that seemed to sear the dark sky in half. Rain pelted down mercilessly as the boat's deck heaved over the thrashing of the waves, tossing the passengers onboard against the railings. She felt the sharp, cold wind throw stinging raindrops into her eyes and she desperately tried to rub them out. She needed to see._

_The captain had found the megaphone again, but she could barely make out what he was saying over the roar of the sky and sea. She could only make out fragments, like pieces of a puzzle that didn't seem to quite fit together. "Sunny Island…Ashore…Far…Lifeboat…Transmitter…Children." And then someone grabbed her hand, and she knew everything would be alright._

_It was the familiar firm, warm grasp that she'd known all her life and it lead her over to the far side of the boat. Before long, another hand joined it, and then the two strong arms wrapped around her small form and lifted her. She rested her head against the broad chest and listened to the heartbeat. "Are we going to be okay?"_

"_We'll be fine," the deep voice reassured her as its owner blocked the stinging rain and vicious wind with his body. "We'll be just fine, baby girl."_

_And she believed it, like she had all her life. The firm grip tightened protectively as the ship gave another great heave. She smelled salt water; she heard the heartbeat speed up in the broad chest. Rain streamed down her face, and she tried to blink it away._

"_Terrence." The melodic voice penetrated the sharp wind. "Terrence, they're loading the life boats. Follow me—"_

_A baby was crying. She felt anger burn in her chest—how dare this storm make the baby cry? "Hush, little darling. Benjamin, hush," the same lilting, musical voice said soothingly._

"_Aurelie—" the deep voice called. "Aurelie! Give me—"_

_The rest happened in a blur, it always did. The thrusting of the deck, the slamming against the railing. The horrible feeling of hanging high above the water, and the sickening groan as the hull of the boat splintered into a thousand floating shards._

"_I've got you," grunted the deep voice. "I've got you, Clairy-Fairy. Don't cry."_

_She didn't remember crying, but then, tears would mingle with the rain running down her cheeks. Maybe she'd been crying the whole time. "I won't, Daddy."_

"_That's my girl. That's my big, strong, brave girl. Clairy, you look at me."_

_She blinked futilely, rubbed the water out of her eyes, tried to look at him—but everything was blurry. _

"_Are you looking at me, Clairy?"_

"_Daddy—I can't see you!" _

_It was then she had realized how scared she was, was startled and afraid of how hoarse and terrified her own voice sounded. "Daddy, help me, I can't see you!"_

_She felt his rough fingers caress the choppy, dripping blonde bangs out of her eyes. "Clairy, can you see me now?"_

_She looked, but she looked past him, and only saw endless iron-grey clouds and flashes of lightning, and she shrieked. She didn't get a chance to look into his determined eyes as he gently pressed Benjamin into her arms and began to lower her down the side of the sinking ship—down, down, down to the hungry water, down to the outstretched arms in the lifeboat._

"_Daddy!" she shrieked, her voice raw with terror. "Daddy! Mommy! Don't leave me! Mommy, Daddy! Please come with me! I'm scared!"_

"_Don't be scared, precious," the musical voice called, straining to be heard over the wind and cries of the others. "Darling, just head for the shore! Don't be scared. Be brave. We'll meet you there!"_

"_Promise?" she cried. Benjamin was wailing by now. She struggled to make out their forms on the boat's doomed deck, but by now it was too late. She couldn't see them. "MOM! DAD! I'm scared!"_

"_Promise!" the deep voice yelled back, fainter now. If she hadn't been straining so hard to hear it, straining to pick it out from the surging wave of voices, she wouldn't have caught it. "We'll be right with you. We'll meet you on the shore. Be brave. Take care of your brother! We love you, baby girl!"_

"_Take care of your brother!" the lilting voice repeated. "We'll be there—a promise is a promise! We love you, Claire!"_

_If they said anything else, she didn't hear it. She took a deep breath and raised her chin—she was going to be brave. She wasn't going to be scared. She was going to take care of Benjamin. She was a big, strong, brave girl, and nothing was going to hurt Benjamin._

_And she was going to meet her parents on the shore._

_Because a promise was a promise._

.:.:::.:.

**A/N: Team Blue Feather's winning, by the way. Next chapter will explain all about what's going on with them. By the way, some of you were close in your guesses, but not quite there. Interesting to see your takes though! ^^**

**Also, to clear up confusion~ the first "flashback" thingy was just that: a flashback that Claire had while gazing out at the sea. The second wasn't just a flashback.**

**Should I make a poll on my profile in a few chapters to determine which bachelor wins, for once and for all? Would anyone vote? So far it's between Doc and Gray, but I think Doc's actually in the lead. ;)**

**ANYWAY. Sorry for babbling! I hope you all enjoyed reading this chapter, and please leave me a review ^.^ Thanks for reading!**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Thanks so much for all your reviews, as usual! Hope you enjoy this chapter.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own it~**

.:.:::.:.

Aqua crept quietly through the still night and rounded the corner by the church. Scurrying up to the door of the little bamboo hut, he carefully tugged it open, wary of making too much noise. He slipped inside and slowly shut the door behind him before tiptoeing across the hut to his little bed and crawling in. Happy and flush with victory, he snuggled down into the blankets and pulled the covers up over his head, looking forward to a great night's sleep and a day full of Claire-related shenanigans in the morning.

A few beds over, Bold rolled over and tried to ignore all the rustling he was hearing, but his sleep was disturbed as he heard snickering and whispering begin to pick up across the room. He sat up and glared through the darkness at the offending sprites. "Go to sleep! What are you whispering about?"

Giggling. "We just win, that's all," Hoggy's voice gloated smugly.

"You did not!" exclaimed Timid fiercely, immediately sitting ramrod-straight to confront the other Sprite.

"Yeah!" agreed Chef crossly as he also sat up. "Claire is practically in love with all the guys here! Soon she'll be married and then she'll have NO problems with raising the baby!"

"Yeah right!" scoffed Aqua.

"Yeah! Is she _engaged _yet?" asked Hoggy mockingly. "_Nooo_. Rick and Karen are! We win!"

Chef tossed his pillow at the triumphant-sounding Sprite, now incensed. "That's so stupid! What makes you think that just 'cuz Rick and Karen are engaged they'll want to adopt Claire's _baby_? Now give me my pillow back!"

"Noo! Finders keepers, losers weepers~"

"Don't be so immature! Or I won't make you any breakfast!"

"Settle down!" yelled Bold authoritatively. The other sprites quieted, fidgeting unhappily in their beds. Once he was satisfied with the volume level, the leader sprite added in a low voice, "We all know that thanks to Team Horse Heist, Claire is going to fall madly in love with someone and keep the baby! JUST LIKE SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO!"

An uproar of injustice sounded from Team Blue Feather.

"No way!"

"She can't take care of him anymore!"

"Someone else needs to look after him!"

"TAKE THE BABY OFF HER HANDS!"

"Don't be silly!" snapped Chef. "Are you underestimating her?"

"No," sniffed Aqua. "We just don't like seeing her go through that torment again! If Rick and Karen adopt the baby, she'll be so much happier!"

"But it's _necessary_…" Bold tried to explain with a sigh. "She's the only person we know who can understand and control such a baby…"

Aqua sniffed childishly, but the rest of the sprites remained in a pensive silence. Finally, Timid piped up again, asking in a small voice, "He…He's really just like Benjamin, then?"

"Yes."

"Won't that—won't it make Claire sad?"

"It will probably make her very sad," Bold admitted quietly. "But…maybe in time, it will make her very happy too."

.:.:::.:.

Gray pressed himself against the far wall of Claire's degenerate farmhouse and watched in transfixed horror as a delicate flower blossom slowly curled up through a crack in the floorboard, unfurling its leaves and blooming as though on fast-forward, reaching its earnest upturned face to Piper. The baby was lying on the low table in the centre of the room and giggling delightedly, as though tickled pink at the prospect of being strangled by a mutant flower.

Slowly, Gray crept forward and grabbed the well-worn handle of a scythe leaning against the wall. As a babysitter—it was his duty to guard his charge against any dangers and long-legged beasties and things that went bump in the night. Unfortunately for the shaken blacksmith, that included warding off malevolent mutant blooms that seemed intent on defying the laws of nature.

"Okay…okay okay okay…" he murmured, trying to reassure himself as he inched closer and closer to the steadily ascending bloom. The slight outline of the flower was hard to see in the darkness and he found himself relying heavily on its silvery silhouette cast from the light of the moon. Once he judged himself close enough, he drew his eyebrows together in concentration and took a wild swing at the flower's stem.

With a satisfying _swish_, the now fully-bloomed blossom fell to the ground as the stem wilted and turned brown in the same instant. Gray's big blue eyes grew wide with shock and he took another step back, inhaling steadying breaths. He'd never in his life seen anything that grew so quickly—and died just as meaninglessly. It was _unnatural_.

Or maybe it was more natural than everything else? Now his head hurt.

As the flower shriveled and fell limply to the floorboards, the baby's lower lip began to quiver. Before Gray knew it, the infant was in all-out bawl mode: chubby fists flailing, legs kicking, toothless mouth gaping and eyes squeezed tightly shut.

The blacksmith dropped the scythe, the blade narrowly missing his toes, and scooped Piper off the table. "Uhh—umm—there there?" he tried helplessly. "It's okay—it's dead!" _Sure, now he decides to cry, AFTER the danger is gone…_

The child's cries only intensified as Gray tried in vain to rock him to sleep. It occurred to the apprentice for the very first time that perhaps volunteering to look after a tiny baby with zero experience wasn't the best plan ever. He decided to try something else and hefted Piper up against his chest, chin resting on his shoulder, and rubbed the tiny back. It seemed like the thing to do; it's what most dads did in movies, anyway…

Shortly, Gray found out why. Still wailing, the baby began to cough—and then he threw up all down the blacksmith's shoulder and down his back.

With a yelp, the smith arched his back as he felt the warm, viscous liquid trickle down his skin and soak into the fabric of his shirt. It was all he could do to keep from growling outright when he heard the doorknob twist, but he managed to swallow it—it could only be Claire, his saviour, returning! _Thank the Goddess!_

The door swung open, letting both moonlight and a tall silhouette spill into the darkened farmhouse. "Claire," breathed Gray, his exhaustion clear in his tone. "You have no idea how glad I am that you're back…"

"Eyyyy, maaaaan! I _–hic- _misshed you tooooo!" To the blacksmith's horror, Kai staggered in and flicked on the lights, groaned at the sudden brightness, and flicked them off again.

"KAI?" demanded Gray, his spirits fraying and beginning to panic. "What are you-? Where's Claire? _When is she coming back_? SOON?"

"Claire?" repeated the clearly drunk beach boy. He looked confused for a moment before his face suddenly lit up. "OHHH! Claaaaire! Yeahhhh….why doesn't she _–hic- _like drinking, Graaaaay?"

The blacksmith was growing increasingly frustrated with his friend. His jaw tightly clenched, he placed the still-roaring Piper on Claire's bed and collapsed onto a cushion by the table. "I don't _know, _Kai. When is she coming _back_?"

Kai ignored Gray and walked over to Claire's bed. He poked a pillow and then tested the mattress for springiness by throwing himself down on it—making Piper scream yet louder. "Thisshh bed SHUCKSH…"

"KAI!" Gray roared. He leapt up and grabbed Kai's shoulders, shaking them furiously in an attempt to finally hold the cook's attention. "WHERE. IS. CLAIRE?"

Kai frowned and brushed his friend away. "Shhtop yellin', I haff a headache," he complained as he settled himself down on the straw mattress. "I fink shome of the gurlsh…_-hic- _had a shlumber partyy…"

The implications hitting him in a tidal wave, Gray listlessly sank back into the cushion. "A slumber—oh, Goddess. Oh Goddess, she won't be back until morning. Oh Goddess."

It didn't even occur to him to ask Kai why he was crashing in Claire's rundown shack. All he could think about was that he was the only sober person in the nature-possessed house and would have to deal with Piper and any other freakish sprouts until morning—which couldn't come fast enough.

_Never. Again._

.:.:::.:.

_Cyan sparks flew and a child giggled. Butterflies alighted delicately on the springy leaves of the ivy curling around the window as a tall, slender brunette woman brushed a kiss across the forehead of her short, blonde daughter, who stood clutching a pail of water._

"_Thank you, darling," her voiced seemed to hum, "but we won't be needing that today."_

_With a flick of her wrist, a light shower of warm spring rain sprinkled across the lush, vast expanse of field outside the house. The little girl craned her neck to see over the windowsill as the woman lifted the laughing baby up to see. She knew that her mother wasn't supposed to use magic…she was supposed to be wearing the blue necklace. "Mommy, won't Daddy be upset?"_

_The woman turned, her face seeming to darken. "Yes," she said in a strange voice—the little girl stepped away as the seafoam-green eyes of her mother flashed red._

_The necklace—she needed the necklace—the little girl lunged for it, seeing it on the table, but it was too late. Cackling, the red-eyed woman spread her arms, summoning a powerful torrent of water crashing through the walls of the house, crushing them as though they were paper._

_She was swept away with it. The last thing she saw before being submerged was the pair of glowing, hate-filled crimson orbs. She managed to grab ahold on the baby, clinging to him tightly and fighting for the surface, which seemed miles away. But she could still see everything floating on the surface—the table, the lush windowsill. Sunlight filtering in through the open window; the world untouched. _

_And then it was all swept up in a massive surge of water; everything from the red eyes to the sparks to the baby—especially the baby, wrenched from her grasp—swirling together in the indifferent, impartial whirlpool. The turquoise sparks disappeared; the frost and the crops and the baby, too, were swallowed by the whirlpool—_

_But the red eyes remained._

"Claire? Honey, are you okay?"

Moaning, the farmer pressed her face into the pillow as someone gently and persistently shook her shoulder. "I'm fiiiiine…"

"You didn't sound fine!" chirped a voice that was distinctively Popuri's.

"Yes," agreed Elli's voice, hovering over her head. "Should we get you to the clinic?"

With effort, the farmer managed to sit up, and groaned as her head spun. She ran a hand through her disheveled hair. "N-no, thank you, Elli. I'm fine."

The mattress sank as Popuri crawled over it to stare Claire in the eye. "_Hmmm_. You sound better, anyway!"

"What do you mean?" she asked dazedly.

"Girl, you were flailing and kicking and thrashing!" Karen exclaimed. Beside her, Ann crossed her arms and nodded.

"Yeah! Pa heard you all the way from downstairs!"

"But…don't worry about it…" Mary added softly, adjusting her glasses. "Uhm…I'm sure we'll all get to sleep again just fine."

"Well yeah, of course," said Karen, "but we were worried about her!"

"Was it a bad dream?" asked Popuri, her ruby eyes widening in concern. For just an instant, Claire felt a familiar fear rise up, but she quickly suppressed it and admonished herself for being such a wimp. It was _Popuri_, for crying out loud—not the haunting scarlet-eyed woman of her childhood nightmares who was apparently making a comeback.

"Yes," she answered simply. The girls exchanged glances, but they knew that weren't going to get anything else out of her. The discussion quickly turned to how Rick very romantically snuck into their room earlier to propose to Karen.

While they were squealing over the brunette's engagement, Claire hastily packed her small bag and crept out the open door before hurrying down the stairs. Not even _once _could she sleep soundly, apparently…

And it just wasn't fair to the other girls, who also wouldn't get any sleep if she kept them up all night with her whimpers and restlessness. This was why a house far removed from town was best.

She ran all the way back to the farm in the light of the moon and threw open the farmhouse door, surprised at how relieved she actually felt to get away from everyone. Stepping inside, she exhaled in relief and dropped her bag on the floor before falling into bed.

"OWW! Ge'off!"

"What—KAI? GET OUT OF MY BED! WE DISCUSSED THIS!"

"But I don't wannaaa sleep on the flooooor! I have a splitting headache from my hangover!"

"EVERYONE STOP YELLING!" roared Gray. "Claire, Goddess! Your house is possessed!"

"_GRAY_? Oh, right. Wait! There is NOTHING WRONG with my house! Well, besides the obvious…"

"No, Claire! You don't understand! These freaky mutant plants were growing out of the ground and trying to kill Piper!"

Claire shuffled over in the dark to where she thought Gray was and stopped in front of him. "Gray."

"Yes?"

She put her hand on his arm. "Gray, you're overtired. I understand—watching Piper does that to a person. Just, um…lie down and get some rest. You know what, _you _can have the bed if you kick Kai out."

"No, Claire! I'm completely serious, I sliced it with the scythe and its corpse is still here on the floor somewhere—here, I'll show you!"

Her head pounded. "Please," she whined. "I just want to sleep…"

"I'm not moving!" yelled Kai from her bed. "You can't make me! I have a terrible hangover!"

"I told you so!" she yelled back, and then sighed. "Fine, but I'm taking the blankets. Is Piper okay, Gray?"

"Yes! But the plants—"

Claire groaned and held her head. "I don't _care _about the plants…I just wanna sleep…"

.:.:::.:.

Doctor Trent was in a good mood. Whistling, he walked purposefully past the smithy and jingled the envelope containing Claire's payment in one hand. Lately she'd been pestering him to come out of the clinic and check up on…um…what was the foal's name?

Pride. _Arcas Pride_, to be exact. Yes, she'd ended up naming him, as she wanted something that sounded as racing-horse-ish as the other names of the horses in the Spring festival. But Trent really didn't care, as long as it was a name he could actually remember when she popped in and wanted to talk about the foal.

He arrived on her farm and glanced briefly at the field, where Claire usually was by this time of day—10:15 am. She wasn't there, and he didn't see any of the animals out or about either, which she was very particular about. Sighing, he turned towards the house and hoped she hadn't slept in. He really hated waking people up.

What he saw astonished him. The house was suddenly and completely overgrown with foliage and greenery—where a rotting foundation was once clearly visible was now a veritable smorgasbord of plant life. Trent immediately recognized a few as being _incredibly _rare, and it took all of his willpower to pound on the ivy-covered door instead of rushing over to pick them.

From inside, he could hear two male voices arguing until a woman's—Claire's—shrieked. Footsteps pounded and the door flew open in front of him to reveal a puffy-eyed Gray. The smith blinked at Trent for a second and then grabbed his sleeve to haul him inside.

"What—" the physician began, ruffled. He stopped short when he saw Claire kneeling on the ground beside Piper, who was resting happily in a cradle made of…woven plantlife. "_What_ is _that_? And Claire, did you know the outside of your house is—"

When she turned to look at him, he noticed that her eyes seemed glazed over. "Wah…what? What's…wrong with it now?"

Kai, who was lying on his stomach on the bed, rolled over to hang his arm off the side. "Hey, isn't this weird, Doc? He fell asleep just in the blanket and woke up in _that_."

Trent wasn't really listening. "Claire! Do you mind if I take some cuttings?"

"Cuttings? Of what, my tomato plants? Sure, but you can just buy seeds at the Supermarket."

"No, no—the outside of your house…just come look at it. It's unbelievable, was it like that last time I came by?"

"What's in the envelope, Doc? Money?" asked Kai, now lying on his back and hanging off the side of the bed.

Gray poked his head out the window and whistled. "Whoa. This stuff was definitely not here last night. Claire, what the hell is wrong with your house? Is it possessed by a _nature spirit_ or something?"

The farmer lifted Piper out of his leafy cradle and pressed him to her chest. "No."

"Hey, Claire? What's for breakfast?" Kai slowly slid out of bed and landed on the floor with a _whump_.

"I told you, I'm not feeding you! Every man for himself except Piper, and dibs on the rice cakes!"

"Oh," said Gray slowly. "Sorry, I already ate them…"

Claire didn't reply. She slowly got to her feet, still holding Piper tightly, and walked past everyone and out the door. There, she took in the full view of her house.

She felt her heart clenching tightly. This was all so painfully familiar; she knew she'd seen this before. But before…she'd had ways of controlling it.

What had she done with _it_?

"Claire." Trent's voice. She turned slightly to look at him. "I can see you're really busy, so I'll just head off now. Here's your boarding payment for this week, and next week too. I'll try to come by again to check on Pride, okay?"

His words took a minute to process. "'Kay. Thank you…but why next week's too?"

"Oh." He shrugged. "Well, I'm not going to be here. I'm going to an Island, actually."

"Really?" the farmer asked, brightening. "You're going on vacation?"

The doctor laughed. "I wish. No, a large passenger ship was actually wrecked at sea not too far off the shore, so I was _invited _to head down and help the injured, in a lovely tropical destination."

"…Really?" Her brow creased as she absorbed the information. "When was this…wreck?"

"A week or so ago, or so I'm told. I hear it was pretty bad. They didn't expect to need so many hands, so I'm going on short notice. Leaving tomorrow morning, actually."

This, too, seemed terribly familiar. Claire took another step forward, her head tilted thoughtfully. "I see…um…where was this..?"

"A little place called Sunny Island, fairly newly-developed in the past 15 years or so, so you might not have heard of it."

Claire's heart seemed to leap out of her chest at the mention of the island's name. "It exists…?" she murmured, her thoughts racing.

"Pardon?"

She shook her head. "Um—err—nothing…ah…you said it was newly-developed…was there another wreck possibly, 15 years ago, say? Maybe?"

His eyes narrowed thoughtfully as he searched her face. "Yes, actually…why?"

Her mind was made up. "I'm coming with you."

_.:.:::.:._

**A/N: I'm in a rush! Thanks for reading, hoped you liked, please review! ^^**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: I think this may be the fastest I've ever updated. On another note...thank you all so much for all the reviews. I absolutely love hearing from you and adore every one I receive-so thank you for making my day over and over again :P**

**Oh, also, sorry if this seems rushed. I wrote it really quickly, but I hope it's okay. xD**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harvest Moon. *shock and awe***

.:.:::.:.

"No—Claire! I don't think you understand what I meant by _tomorrow morning._ I'm boarding the ferry from the beach at 2am!"

The doctor was jogging to keep up with the harried farmer as she distractedly dumped water on her crops and made a beeline to the barn. In truth, she was barely listening to the man—her mind was racing with countless other details, worries, hopes, and thoughts.

"You said—there was another wreck…" she murmured, flinging the barn doors open and startling the animals inside. "And that's when the development started—so—survivors must have reached the island and made it their home, right?"

"Well, yes—Claire, would you _listen _to me? You can't just drop everything and run off to board a boat like it's nothing."

"So…" Claire continued thoughtfully as she wandered out of the barn again without tending to the animals. "So that means…enough people must have survived that there's a good chance that…"

Trent stopped and rubbed his forehead with a groan. "Why does this even _matter _to you? And aren't you forgetting something?"

His last sentence managed to fleetingly grab Claire's attention. "—Huh?" she asked, turning around to look at him. "What? What am I forgetting?"

Trent gestured widely around him. "Your farm, maybe?"

"Oh…" _Her farm._ Claire glanced briefly over the humungous, once-unconquerable plot of land that she had slowly been taming over the course of her time in town. It certainly gave her some sense of pride and accomplishment; nobody—not even Thomas, who'd had the gall to trick her into buying it in the first place—really thought she'd be able to make anything out of it. Nobody before her had; not since the last owners had left so many years before. But she _had_. The thought left a lingering, proud smile curling around her lips. _**My **__farm._

"I don't think it would survive without you for a week, Claire. Especially not the animals. You can't just go running off on a whim and leave it."

Closing one eye, Claire sighed deeply and turned away from him again, heading down to tend to her lone chicken. "It's not a _whim_, Trent."

But as soon as she said the word aloud, she realized that…well, it kind of _was _a whim. So she'd been having dreams for years about a Sunny Island. So now she knew for a fact that it really existed. So she recalled that the shipwreck that ruined her life had occurred near a Sunny Island. So the Island had been civilized since the disaster; so it'd happened again. So _what?_

Did she really think that just by going there, she'd discover her entire family happy and well, and they'd all cry with happiness and live happily ever after? No. There were three "happy"s in that one sentence; she was chasing shadows again.

The real question was, was she willing to go the distance to find out? Was she prepared to go there and be as disappointed as she expected herself to be, have her heart broken all over again after she'd considered herself healed for so long? Was she willing to run the risk and make herself so vulnerable, just on the tiny pinprick of hope that something fantastic awaited her?

"If it's not a whim, then what is it?"

_Her farm_. Trent was right; she couldn't just leave it. It _wouldn't _survive. She'd return to find the soil as rocky, rugged and poor as when she arrived, with lack of attention. The crops would wither. The animals would starve.

Well…maybe not…all she needed to do was find someone who could take care of it while she was gone, right?

"Hmm…" she said thoughtfully to the waiting doctor, flinging open the coop door and startling the snowy hen inside. "More of a hunch, really."

"Oh, a hunch. Marvelous. What a great reason to abandon everything you've worked so hard to achieve," his voice returned from behind her, dripping in sarcasm as he followed her inside the coop. Claire rolled her eyes.

"It's not as if I'll just _leave _it," she shot back. "I'm sure I can find someone who can pop in every so often, and…and…do…something." An idea popped into her head. "Hey, maybe Kai would do it in exchange for having the house to himself…"

Trent only snorted, which made Claire grin. "Yeah, you're right, that probably wouldn't pan out too well. Hmmmmmm…"

Distractedly, she dumped some feed on the hen's head and wandered away again, oblivious to the chicken fluffing out its feathers, miffed. Once outside she blinked into the fresh morning sunshine and swept her gaze over the entire plot before nodding in satisfaction. She'd done a good job on the farm; Mom would be proud.

Her heart skipped a beat, and in that instant, her mind was made up for once and for all. Yes, she was willing to take that risk—she was willing to do _anything_, for that chance. She just had to know. "Trent, when are you getting up this morning?"

"…Probably quarter after 1…" he grumbled, sounding like he already knew he'd lost.

"Would you mind swinging by my place whenever you're ready and we can go to the dock together? Otherwise I'm afraid I'd sleep right through the launch-time thingy." Claire watched an evil glint flash across his eyes and matched it with a severe, unblinking gaze of her own. "And _don't _get any ideas about leaving me here. The consequences will be prompt and harsh, I promise you."

"Argh. _Fine_," the doctor grumbled. Claire's face lit up.

"THANK YOU!"

Shaking his head, Trent marvelled at how she could go from dangerously threatening to smile-happy and bright in a matter of seconds. "Whatever. Just make sure you find someone to look after this place—oh, and _please _don't let the entire town know we're going, okay? Goddess knows what kinds of rumours they'll cook up…" He turned to go.

Claire grinned wickedly. "Aww, you don't want them to think we're eloping?" she asked teasingly, surprising him with a hug from behind. "Would that ruin your day, Trenty?"

"_Yes_."

Laughing, she released him. "Ouch! Cold as ice, Doctor. Just cold as ice. Well, bye! Have a good day! See you tonight! Er, tomorrow morning!"

He grumbled something and disappeared from her farm, still shaking his head slightly. Claire's grin widened—he was so much fun to bother. So was Gray. Kai, not so much; he didn't really get annoyed at anything, but he was fun for a lot of other reasons.

Her smile faded a little bit as she realized the full implications of her decision: she needed to find someone who was willing to take on the huge responsibility of babysitting her farm for—how long? A week, did Trent say? She mentally kicked herself for not paying closer attention to him and flipped through the rolodex in her mind for potential farm-sitters.

Barley had his own farm and May was too little. Lillia and family had their own business to take care of; Gray had afternoons off, but the animals needed to be fed before then. Kai would probably eat all her pineapple crop instead of shipping it. Cliff…maybe. Rick and Karen and their families would be busy with wedding preparations, Trent would be on the boat with her…Elli was scared of sheep…Ann had the Inn to clean… Mary was busy, Popuri only knew about chickens, and Karen was—previously engaged.

Cliff it was!

Purposefully, she strode off down cobblestone town path towards the church, feeling strangely calm with her decisions. It felt as though for once, she was actually heading in a definite direction.

.:.:::.:.

For the second time in a matter of days, Claire found herself standing awkwardly outside the Church. She could hardly believe she was truly intending to go in and ask such an enormous favour of the shy traveler inside, whom she didn't even truly know that well. How could she _do _that, anyway? Guiltily, she began to turn away.

"Claire?" a small voice meeped out from somewhere by her feet, just as she took a step. Startled, the farmer glanced down to see one of the tiny Sprite/elf/fairy/seven-dwarf beings staring back up at her. It was the green one, clutching his little pointed hat fretfully in his hands. "Claire, um…you need help, right?"

With a great amount of restraint, the blonde managed to swallow her shock at seeing them again, and at how they always seemed to know _everything_. She glanced quickly around to make sure nobody was nearby to see them before replying. "Um…yes, I do. Timid, right?" _Why do they keep sending the shy one out to talk to me?_

"W-we thought so," he stammered, forcing himself to meet her eyes. Claire had to admire the little guy for that. "Um, follow m-me."

Wordlessly, he scurried back behind the church and led her back to the little bamboo hut, and with a resigned sigh the farmer followed. When he opened the door, Claire saw that the other six multicoloured sprites were sitting inside and waiting. It looked eerily like an intervention. Taking a deep breath for strength, she slowly followed the green sprite inside.

Bold stood up first, welcoming her inside and smiling lightly. Timid closed the door behind them as Chef took Claire's hand and invited her to sit at their little table—she took up three chairs.

She sat awkwardly, her knees pressed together and hands clasped in her lap. "Hi again," she managed to croak. The farmer couldn't help but wonder what all this was about and was incredibly surprised at their gentle treatment of her, especially as she'd run out in tears on them before.

"Hi Claire," they chorused, smiling—some happily, some sadly. The navy blue one advanced slowly on her to take up one of her hands in both of his tiny ones.

"I'm really sorry for making you cry last time," he said earnestly, his tiny childish eyes searching hers. "I didn't mean to upset you, I promise!"

Claire swallowed, averting her gaze as her heart wrenched. "It's fine. Thank you, but don't worry about it, okay?" she replied, sounding misleadingly confident. He nodded, smiling in relief, and Bold spoke up.

"You're leaving soon," he began bluntly. Claire flinched—he was making it sound like some sort of criminal activity.

"Not for long," she interjected. "I'm just going to—to see if…" Her voice faltered, then broke. She could barely finish the thought, but Bold nodded as if she'd finished the sentence.

"We know." The farmer glanced up in astonishment to see that all of the sprites seemed to be unsurprised and nonjudgmental. "You're going back to the place where it all started, but that's why you need our help!"

"I…I do?" She sat up straight, hopeful. "You—you wouldn't be able to look after my farm, would you?"

"Of course we would!" cried Hoggy. The others nodded vigorously as Claire's face broke into a delighted smile.

"That would be amazing!"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves here," the purple leader sprite interrupted, waving his arms. "Claire…there's something of yours that we need to give back to you."

Her brow furrowed. Really? What on earth of hers could they possibly have? "Um…what's that?"

Bold gestured for her to follow him as he half-ran over to his bed and crawled underneath. When he appeared from under it again, he dragged behind him an old-looking, well-worn wooden chest. Claire sat forward in interest and intrigue as he hauled it into the centre of the room and dusted off the old rusting padlock.

"It's mostly for decoration," he said offhandedly to her, unhooking it from its clasp. With a flourish, he shoved the lid open.

Her eyes widening, Claire stared at the colourful contents of the chest in wonder. It was stuffed with all manner of teddy bears, blankets, cards, fabric hearts, costume jewellery, stuffed animals, soothers—there were framed photographs and dress-up clothes and plastic toys—

"Where is it…?" Bold murmured, buried halfway in the chest and digging. "I _just _saw it, I know it's in here…"

"Something—something of mine is in there?" Claire asked, baffled. A tiny hand came to rest reassuringly on her arm; turning to look, she saw it was Aqua's. "And that chest…What _is _that?"

"Our treasure box!" chirped Chef happily. "It's full of all the things the children have ever given us."

"Given you? …Can all children see you?"

"Hmm." The red sprite tilted his head and tapped a finger on his chin thoughtfully. "Nope, but some can. Especially the ones descended from the Goddess. The ones who need us, see us."

"Need you..?" she repeated. It seemed the more questions she asked, the more confused she got. But Aqua nodded happily beside her.

"Mhmm! Once they give us something that means a lot to them, we know that they don't need us anymore."

"Right!" Chef agreed. "But sometimes, stuff like this happens and we need to give it back because they need it again!" She blinked in confusion.

"Aha!"

Claire's jumbled train of thought was completely derailed with Bold's triumphant cry. He strode confidently over to her, his hands pressed together to hide whatever they contained. "Close your eyes!" he ordered cheerfully.

Still confused, the farmer obeyed and squeezed her eyes shut.

"Okay, now hold out your hands~"

Claire obediently extended her hands, palms up. She felt something tiny, circular and very light being dropped into them. "Can I open my eyes now?"

"Yup!"

Curious as to what she would find and not having the slightest idea what to expect, Claire snapped her eyes open and stared down at the object in her hands.

It was a tiny, infant-sized bracelet strung of light crystals the colour of a clear lagoon.

She felt her heart rise to her throat and stared at the bracelet. Benjamin's bracelet; after so long, she had finally pushed it to the back of her mind, but now it was all coming crashing down on her again.

All this time—all her life, she'd been convinced that she had lost this precious wristband at sea, but here it was in her hands, untouched by time. She could even still see the little nicks in the stones where Benjamin had taken to teething on it.

Claire was overcome by emotion as she crouched forward in her chairs. She could almost see Benjamin sitting in her small bony lap, gnawing on the crystals and whimpering when she pulled them out of his mouth. _"Don't eat these," _she remembered telling him. _"Momma says these are special stones and will protect you! You don't want to upset Momma when she comes back, do you, Benjy?"_

The beads were still their beautiful cyan colour; the colour of the sparks, the colour of magic. The colour of comfort. The colour of home.

This was what Piper needed. Claire understood now—he was special, in the same way as Benjamin had been.

So he needed someone much better than Claire to take care of him. She hadn't even been able to take care of her own brother when he needed her the most. Standing, she clutched the bracelet tightly in her hands, her knuckles turning white, and tried to blink back the tears welling in her eyes.

"Thank you," she said, trying to sound strong._ That's my big, strong, brave girl._

"You remember what to do with that, right?" asked Hoggy happily, flapping his arms excitedly. She nodded in determined affirmation and began to make her way to the door.

"Yes. Thanks again—for everything you've ever done for me. I'm still not a hundred percent sure what it all was just yet, but…thank you, all the same." Claire smiled briefly at the assembled sprites before turning and heading outside.

"You're welcome," Bold said quietly.

"I wanna come!" cried Timid, trailing after her. "Wait for meee!"

.:.:::.:.

The house was dark and quiet. Kai snored softly from Claire's bed; she wasn't going to kick him out since she was packing to board the ship soon anyway. Timid bounced in happily after the farmer and hid behind her leg at the sound of the beach boy's snoring.

Claire smiled and knelt down to the sprite. "Don't worry," she whispered. "I let him in. He's going to be house-sitting for me."

"Oh. Does he know where you're going?"

"Nope! He doesn't even know I'm leaving at all. I'm writing him a note!"

"Claaaaire….!"

She stood up and yawned. It had been a long day; she'd given Timid a complete tour of her farm (even though he insisted he'd worked on it for her family before) and explained everything about her precious animals to him. After she'd made the poor sprite repeat everything back to her a thousand times without mistakes, she felt assured that her farm was in good hands while she was gone.

Now all she had to do was pack. Claire tiptoed past the bed to her tiny dresser, which was stuffed with various multi-colour overalls and a few blouses, skirts etc. left over from her job in the city. Frowning, the farmer realized she didn't really have anything tropical-island worthy.

Not even a bathing suit…

Timid tugged on her pant leg. "Hey, Claire?" he whispered, "Can I see the baby?"

"Oh," she murmured. "Um, sure." He followed her as she crept around the bed to where the infant was sprawled on the pillow across from Kai. Piper stirred slightly as she scooped him up, but settled down sleepily again in her arms. She knelt down again to Timid's height and the sprite leaned over to the baby and gawked.

Cracking an eyelid, Piper glanced over in Timid's direction. Claire held her breath—would he be able to see the sprite? They'd said that descendants of the Goddess especially could, and if he was like Benjamin…

A smile split the baby's face as he reached a plump arm out to Timid, who shied away at first before placing a hesitant hand in Piper's. The baby grasped it tightly, beaming toothlessly at the sprite. Claire exhaled.

Fishing the bracelet out of her pocket, she manoeuvred Piper in her lap before carefully slipping on the blue crystal-beaded bracelet. The baby frowned at it and tried to pull it off but was soon distracted by Timid making a goofy face and dancing.

Claire shuffled over on her knees to the cushions sitting by her low table and rested him on top of one of them, in a position where he could still see Timid's antics, before returning to her packing. She glanced at her watch—1:08a.m.. Trent would be here any minute.

.:.:::.:.

"Seriously?" groaned the doctor, his shoulders sagging with the weight of his luggage, Claire's, and Elli's too as he looked over the mass of people waiting alongside them for the ferry.

The farmer disguised her grin by pressing her face against Piper's forehead. "Sooo-rry," she said. "But Kai woke up…and then he told Gray, who told Cliff, who told Ann, who told Mary and Popuri, who thought it'd be fun for Karen and Rick…"

Trent only sighed again. "There are only four cabins…"

"Welllll," she said cheerfully, "guess we'll all be sharing, then!"

He grimaced at the idea. "Is there anybody _not _coming?"

"Hm…" Claire said thoughtfully. "I think Mary declined. And Ann too."

Elli popped up beside the doctor, grinning happily. "The ferry's almost here! And there's a grand total of nine people coming!"

"Okay—so—Cliff and Gray in a room…Karen and Popuri…me and Rick…?" Trent began, massaging his forehead. "Then Claire and Elli in the last? Who am I missing?"

"Kai," Claire said instantly. Trent chewed his lip.

"Throw him in with Cliff and Gray I guess? They used to all bunk together at the Inn anyway, and he can't come with me and Rick or all hell will break loose."

Both Claire and Elli nodded in agreement, stepping down off the dock as the ferry finally chugged into port. Zack appeared from inside the beachhouse and helped the small crew tether the boat to the dock.

Grabbing their luggage, the nine young adults all piled loudly onboard; six excited to go on a trip, two worrying about the victims they would be treating, and one sick with nerves over what she would find—or not find.

.:.:::.:.

**A/N: Yaaay, me again! Thanks for reading the latest instalment~ I hope you enjoyed it, and I'm pretty excited for the upcoming chappies. Please leave me a review! C: **

**Thanks again!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: I am on a ROLL with this. :) It's probably because I should be doing my chemistry, but today's just one of those days when you can't focus on what you should be doing...you know?**

**Anyway, I ramble. Again, thank you all SO SO SO much for the absolutely wonderful reviews; I can't believe I hit 60! 8D I hope you like this chapter!**

**Oh, and I think Tale of Two Towns comes out tomorrow. ^_^**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harvest Moon~**

**.:.:::.:.**

It felt like they'd been on the boat _forever._

"It feels like we've been on this boat _forever_," Claire complained aloud from where she was still curled up in bed. Elli, her cabin-mate, was sitting at the small table in the middle of the room and following her book with her eyes as it slid around the tabletop with the rolling of the boat.

"Well," the nurse said distantly, not really paying attention, "why don't you get up and visit the others? You haven't left the cabin all day."

Claire wriggled deeper under the covers and squeezed her eyes shut, frowning. No _way _was she leaving the safety of the cabin to go looking for the others—she still didn't like or trust boats. Though she got the feeling that Elli was hoping that she'd leave soon. "Maybe later…"

Silence. Even Piper was being uncharacteristically quiet. Claire steadied herself to the ship's movement before shifting over to face him and realized he was asleep. She sighed, feeling a weak ebb of jealousy towards anyone who could actually sleep on a boat, and turned back to Elli. "Do you think we're close?"

"Huh?"

"To the Island. Close to the Island?"

"Oh. Hm. I don't know, maybe. Trent would know." The nurse jerked her head toward the door behind her, connecting their rooms together. "Why don't you go ask him?"

"Mmmnnnn," Claire replied, eloquent and noncommittal. Elli nodded towards the door on the other side of the room.

"Then maybe you could go talk to Gray. Or Cliff. Or Kai."

As if on cue, a loud _thud _and some shouting and pounding came from inside their room. Claire slowly shook her head; putting all three of them in a tiny room together was asking for trouble. "I hope they didn't break anything…"

"Hmm." Elli turned a page.

Claire rolled over onto her back and stared at the solid white ceiling above her, trying to focus on anything but her roiling stomach. She squinted, recognizing a crack in the plaster immediately above the bed; she was fairly sure that this was the same cabin she'd stayed in during the ferry ride from Castor City to Mineral Town.

It had been her first time on a boat since the wreck so many years ago, and she recalled with vivid detail the stressed hours leading up to it. She had paced her small, bare apartment numerous times, trying to glean comfort and security from the familiar—if not beloved—blank walls around her. Her bags had been packed the day before just so that she couldn't change her mind and decide not to go at the last minute, or spend too much time panicking to actually leave herself enough time to pack; she knew she was flighty and would likely try to make up an excuse to stay. She'd done it to cement the fact that the decision was made and that she wasn't going to go back on it.

She was leaving Castor City on a whim; more and more, Claire was discovering that she was truly a creature of fleeting fancies. No _wonder _she was 21 and had been single her entire life!

Well, that, and the fact that she had commitment issues. And people issues. And boat issues, and Mysterious Past issues, and baby issues, and just a whole heck of a lot of issues.

But especially boat issues.

She had come to terms with the fact that if she wanted to get away from her dead-end job as a robotic secretarial slave for some big self-important, Castor-based corporation and return to farming—her roots; something she knew, something she felt she could excel at—she would have to take a boat. So she'd forced herself down to the bus that misty, chilly grey morning, hauling her aptly named luggage behind her and leaving no room for second guesses. One foot in front of the other, she made her way stiffly down from the bus to the harbour in time to catch the ferry that would bring her to the tiny, not-even-on-the-map farming village known (or not known, until she had seen the ad for the farm in the newspaper) as Mineral Town.

There, she'd shuffled into the ladies washroom and had her first small panic attack. But after splashing her face with cold water and pacing some—and frightening one particular woman, who rushed her small son into a stall and locked it forcefully before proceeding to stand in front of the door and glare mistrustfully over it—she'd calmed down reasonably, bought herself some relaxing tea, and sat on the harbour bench.

And waited. She had felt like a prisoner in handcuffs after being led to the block, waiting with the patient, heart-pounding dread that is acquired only after having hours to yourself to agonize over your promised fate, waiting for the executioner in the form of a small chugging ferry to beckon.

It was ridiculous, really.

Claire had congratulated herself for forcing herself on the ship and also for not forgetting anything (that she was aware of), and for saving her second panic attack for the safety of her cabin. Here, in this very bed, she'd sat and clutched her knees and tried not to cry or rock back and forth while reminding herself of all the statistics she'd read online when she was supposed to be typing up reports. The chances of your ship capsizing were close to _none_.

But it was hard to reassure yourself that something terrible isn't going to happen when the same thing has happened to you before, and cost you dearly.

The ride to Mineral Town had been tense, sickening, stressful, and _long_. When she'd finally staggered off the ship just after midnight on the first day of spring, right on the cusp of the changing seasons, the first thing she had done was faint.

Right there on the beach.

It had taken twenty minutes before Zack, the friendly man who she would later learn was the town shipper, noticed her lying face-first in the sand, and dragged her off to the Clinic in the wee hours of the morning. That's when she first met Trent—barefoot and unimpressed—and Elli, so sweet that even her grogginess couldn't prevent her overly concerned and motherly disposition from prevailing and caring for the pale, sand-clumped stranger getting grit all over her freshly-pressed sheets. That first day was an indication of the blatant disregard of the Clinic's hours that was to come…

The next morning the doctor had pronounced her healthy enough to let go, although he was still puzzled over what had caused her to faint—and she wasn't about to tell him. She'd followed the nurse's directions and headed straight down the path to the farm, breathing in the fresh beautiful spring air. It seemed fitting to her that the first day of her fresh life was also the first day of the year—a clean slate, a new start in every sense.

And then she'd seen the wreck the farm was in. The feeling _that _gave her wasn't her best memory ever.

Her thoughts were startled away as the old-fashioned speakers from the hallway suddenly crackled to life. "Good evening, passengers, this is your captain speaking," rumbled a man's deep voice. "It seems as though the Goddess is favouring our passage with fair winds, calm waters and a spectacular sunset. At this rate, we will be reaching Sunny Island at about 2 a.m., so in the meantime I encourage you to partake in some cuisine on the dining floor belowdecks, get some shut-eye in our luxurious queen-sized beds, or head out onto the upper deck to enjoy that sunset."

The farmer exhaled and relaxed back into the pillow. _See? _She told herself. _There's absolutely nothing to worry about unless you're afraid of sunsets, you lunatic._

.:.:::.:.

Whenever Claire did manage to fall asleep, she was an incredibly light sleeper, and the slightest noise or jostle could stir her. She'd woken up when Elli had crawled in beside her, and a few hours later when the nurse had clambered out again to go to the bathroom. The three boys next door piling into bed had also managed to awaken her.

So she lay awake, one arm lightly cradling Piper—he wouldn't sleep otherwise—and the other clutching her pillow tensely as she listened to the waves collide with the ferry with ever increasing intensity. Should she be worried?

_Of course not. Pull yourself together._

Piper, seeming to sense her unease, was blinking up at her with clear green eyes from the crook of her arm. Claire blinked back at him, a little surprised. Had she ever even noticed what colour his eyes were before?

In the next instant, the ferry gave a great heave and sent her tumbling to the floor from her precarious half-on-the-mattress, half-off position, and left her wondering how on earth she could be distracted by something like the colour of the eyes of someone else's baby when things like _shipwrecks _were waiting to happen.

"E-Elli?" she croaked out, tugging nervously on her collar and resettling the grinning baby in her lap.

"Mmmnnn….yes, Claire…."

"Did you feel that?"

"Yes, Claire..."

"Should we be worried?"

"No…Claire…remember what the captain said…"

The blonde frowned. "Yeah, something about fair winds and calm waters, but that was then and this is now!"

Elli sighed. "Get back in bed, Claire…you're just tired and overthinking everything…"

Wanting to protest but unable to think of a good argument, Claire's mouth thinned into a line before she slowly stood up and walked over to the bed. She had one knee up on the mattress when the flooring was ripped away from under her, the entire deck pitching haphazardly, and tossed her back down against the floor _hard_. The impact knocked the breath out of her and muffled her senses; the ceiling spun above her, and she was only faintly aware of the baby wailing into her shoulder as her grip on him tightened painfully.

A few metres away from her on the other side of the bed, Elli groaned. "Okay…that was kind of scary…" she admitted, her voice quivering on the last word. She rolled over and got to her knees to peer over the bed at Claire. "Are—are you okay?"

"Yeah," the farmer managed. She moistened her lips nervously and sat up, relenting in her grip on the squalling infant in her arms. "You?"

"I'm fine. But, um, maybe we should go wake someone up, and—and—ask them…or, something, I don't know…"

Claire heard the underlying fear in the nurse's words: she, like Claire, now wanted reassurance. She let a wry smile brush her lips as she replied. "Yeah, but I'm thinking we won't have to do much of waking anyone up, after _that_."

Elli was standing now and stumbling around the room to help her roommate up as the deck continued to rock unnervingly.

_Was this really happening?_

As soon as she found her feet again, Claire rushed over to the porthole and tossed the blinds aside. She could barely tell the sea from the sky—both were clouded with the inky black shade of night. A wave splashed her window and smeared her already limited sight; the farmer gasped and stepped back. They were on the uppermost deck.

A single, jagged white scar of lightning lit up the sky for just an instant, but in that infinitesimal span of time, Claire saw all. The enormous, white-capped waves, more and more and gaining height by the second, all seemingly headed for a common goal: their ferry.

_It can't be. But it is._

She let the curtain fall back over the glass to obscure the view. "Let's go."

Elli scrambled to grab as much luggage as she could, but Claire rested a slightly trembling hand on her shoulder and shook her head. The nurse nodded frantically, her eyes wide and scared, and haltingly staggered out into the hallway after the farmer.

They weren't the first. Popuri and Karen were already out in their pajamas, hugging each other and looking jittery; Rick was standing awkwardly beside them, obviously torn between comforting his baby sister or his fiancée. Kai was poking his head out of the room, looking a little confused. Neither Gray nor Trent had made an appearance yet.

"Ohhh, what do we dooo?" whispered Elli in Claire's ear, clearly growing more uneasy by the second.

Calm, cool, collected. "We should wait for the captain to make an announcement. In the meantime—Rick, where's Trent? And Kai, is Gray okay? Why isn't he out here?"

"Huh?" Rick's eyes snapped over to her, and she noticed how much paler he looked in the harsh hall light. His glasses were slightly askew and his blondish hair fell into his eyes, unrestrained by the headband he usually wore. "I don't know, he was—he was on his laptop when I left…" He was usually so controlled. Claire's breath hitched; sometimes the most unsettling thing of all was the break from what was familiar.

Kai stepped out of the room, his hands stuffed deep in his pockets. "Gray left a while ago. I don't know where he went."

The farmer bit her lip, thinking. She could feel her palms sweating and her heart hammering against her ribs, and it felt like her legs had turned to lead, but she must not have been thinking logically, because she felt so calm. "Does anybody know what time it is?"

"Quarter to two," came the doctor's voice from behind them. Claire and Elli turned around to face him, relieved.

"_There _you are," said the nurse, sounding exasperated. "What do you think's going on?"

He glanced over everyone in turn, his eyes resting critically on Claire and Piper for a fraction longer than the rest. "What do you think, Claire?"

She furrowed her brow at him. Why was he asking _her_? "I don't know. But it feels an awful lot like—" She stopped herself short, not wanting to be the one to voice the fear that was weighing foremost on everyone's minds.

"Like what?" demanded Popuri in a strained voice. "Like a shipwreck? Like we're all going to die? We're not, are we?"

Immediately, she was reassured by both Rick and Karen that they were, in fact, not going to die, but she still didn't look terribly convinced. They all stood in silence, for a while, steadying themselves as best they could against the pitching, until the third massive heave sent them all sprawling against the floor and hall. Piper began to cry again as Claire's grip tightened, determined not to lose him, and she squeezed her eyes tightly shut.

_Focus. You've been through this before._

Not without losing everything.

_Not everything. You didn't lose everything, you moron. Focus._

Not right then, no, but later, yes. Everything.

_That was your own fault. Now do something._

What, though?

_Just—something!_

Amid the roaring of the water and wind, she faintly made out the speakers crackling and a man's voice talking in distorted, warped tones, but there was a distinctive urgency about his inflection. Claire used the wall for support and dragged herself back to her feet, bracing the baby against her chest. "Guys!" she cried hoarsely. "_Guys_! Everyone, we've got to move! Now!"

"What did he say?" Kai called back, pressed against a wall. "Are you sure we—"

"Yes!" she cried. "Yes, please, just let's go, we're close to the Island and it's happening again and I just know—"

"But I don't think—" someone else tried.

"For Goddess's _sakes_!" roared Gray, appearing out of nowhere and drenched to the bone. He flipped his dripping orange hair out of his eyes and glowered at them all. "She's _right_, okay? It's storming like hell out there and they're getting _lifeboats_! Move!"

"Come on, come on! Listen to the man!" Claire insisted, falling into step behind him and trying to crowd her friends out of the hallway. "Get out onto the deck! Go, go, go!"

The rain was falling in sheets of weighty droplets, slicking the wooden deck and obscuring their vision. They shuffled together as one jittery, fearful mass of soaked clothing and scuffing bare feet, the occasional small bag gripped in a white-knuckled hand. Lightning lit up the sky more often now and the waves easily washed over the deck, carrying any loose items—chairs, tables, parasols—away with them, back into the inky waters.

Crewmen scurried around, blowing whistles in short spurts, shouting with raw voices and competing to be heard over the harsh wind, gesticulating wildly in vain. Piper bawled into her shoulder and she didn't bother trying to hush him.

Trent, as the oldest and one of the more rational, took the lead and stepped in front of them. "Okay!" he roared. "They have two passenger lifeboats! Got that? Separate into girls and boys for simplicity's sake! They're going to be set up over there!" Water ran down his face and dripped from his chin as he thrust his arm out in the direction of the right side of the boat, where crewmen were indeed lowering a white wooden rowboat into position.

"Do NOT run back to your room to grab anything!" the doctor continued, his voice growing coarse with shouting. "You can get by on what you have right now! Everybody buddy up and look out for each other! Yell if something goes wrong! DOES EVERYBODY UNDERSTAND?"

Nodding. Claire blinked the rain out of her eyes and fought her rising panic before turning her glance to Elli. The nurse nodded back shortly; they were buddies.

.:.:::.:.

**A/N: Okay, I DO feel bad about this cliffy. Sort of. Because they are kind of fun. Sorry ^^;**

**Alas, I should go do my chemistry. I hope you liked the chapter, as frustrating as it probably is, and please leave me a review!~**

**Thanks for reading! C:**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Hey, everyone! I'm pretty proud of this chapter, even if it is a little melodramatic, haha. Oh well. I don't get to write dramatic stuff very often, so I hope it's okay! As usual, SO MANY thanks for your absolutely wonderful reviews and favouriting/alerting.**

**I hope you enjoy chapter 11! ^^**

**Disclaimer: One week later, do I own Harvest Moon? NOPE.**

* * *

><p>"Easy, easy!"<p>

"Steady!"

The ferry groaned with the battering rain as the rushing breakers swelled around its slowly descending stern, finally losing the long drawn-out battle of will against the relentless barrage of frothing waves. Gripping one side of the rowboat uneasily, Claire watched as Popuri leaned heavily on Kai's outstretched arm and daintily stepped in. Her weight caused the tiny suspended dinghy to rock unsteadily where it was hanging beside the deck, and biting back a cry of alarm, the pinkette quickly collapsed on the splintering bench beside Karen. The brunette wrapped a reassuring arm around her soon-to-be in-law and stroked her hair. On the opposite bench beside Claire, Elli sat, her chest rising and falling sharply and her bobbed hair dripping as she watched the movement on the deck above with intent, fearful eyes.

Rain was beginning to pool in the tiny boat as the torrential downpour raged on. Claire spared a fleeting glance at the sky, but couldn't see a break in the steel curtain of cloud gathered above.

"Okay!" yelled one of the guys—Gray, or Trent, or maybe Kai; she couldn't tell—and a few lengths of rope were tossed down to the rowboat, landing with a splash. The girls stared at it uncomprehendingly for a moment before Claire grabbed it and gathered it up in her arms. Elli nervously bounced Piper in her lap and hushed his cries with a trembling voice.

Trent stuck his head over the ferry's frail railing and flipped his sopping dark hair out of his eyes. "That's in case of emergency! Everyone good to go?" he shouted down at them. His white undershirt was already soaked through and clung wetly to his torso.

The girls exchanged a quick glance. "Yes!" Claire yelled back. Popuri only whimpered, and Elli's mouth worked uncertainly, as if on the verge of imploring him to come with them. Goddess knew she hated leaving the doctor behind, but she was able to swallow her fears for the most part.

Gray appeared beside the doctor, looking equally drenched and clutching his soggy trademark UMA hat in one hand. "Okay!" he hollered. "We're about to lower it down!"

"Hold tight!" added Trent as both men disappeared from sight and the rain continued to pelt.

"Oh, Goddess," murmured Karen. She reached an arm out to clamp on the side of the boat and took a deep breath. "Oh, Goddess, help us."

"It's okay," Claire said loudly over the wind as it blew stringy strands of cold, dripping blonde hair into her eyes. "We've got a plan and we're not that far from shore—we're going to be just fine!"

"Do you really think so?" asked Elli, turning to look at her friend with genuine fear in her eyes.

The farmer didn't get a chance to reply as the boat suddenly shuddered violently beneath them and, without warning, free-fell for a terrifying couple dozen feet, plummeting directly into the vast tumbling waters below. Screaming, they landed with a harsh, jarring splash that allowed a few more inches of frigid seawater to seep into the base of the dinghy.

For a horrifying moment, Claire thought she was going to have a heart attack until her heartbeat finally resumed its frantic but steady rhythm and her vision cleared. As she clutched her chest and panted, she became dimly aware of the flaring ache in her tailbone and looked over her fellow castaways: Karen and Popuri were hugging fiercely, trembling, and Elli had her face pressed against Piper to conceal her sobs.

Claire could vaguely hear some shouting from the deck above; one familiar voice cried, "That could have gone smoother!" _Understatement of the century_, she thought drily, before squinting through the rain at the other women.

"Okay, you guys!" she shouted over the hissing zephyrs. "There are two oars in the base, and the ferry's pointing its light in the direction of the island! All we have to do is follow that and we'll be there in no time, okay? !"

"W-What about the guys?" Popuri shouted back, still clinging tightly to Karen.

"They're coming right after us! See?" The farmer gestured up at the second rowboat, still hanging off the ferry as the men scrambled to prepare it. Her arm slowly lowered as her mouth fell open; the ship was now on a definite angle as its stern was dragged downwards by the vicious, unseen undertow, its bow pointed upwards to pierce the troubled tempest-blown sky. A jagged bolt of lightning flashed behind it to light up the gray of the thunderheads above and highlight the boat's jagged silhouette.

It seemed to hit her for the first time then. Before, it was all repressed panic; she had only been thinking far ahead enough to actually get _off the ship_. Now they were off the ship, on the tumultuous, roiling stormy waters, exposed and vulnerable, their last illusion of safety sinking behind them and the only other one remotely in their grasp lying Goddess knew how far away across said treacherous water.

_You've been through this before. Just get to the shore. You know how._

"Claire—take Piper!"

"Huh?" She looked away from the ferry to Elli, who was staring back at her with a determined expression unmarred by the mix of rain and tears rolling down her cheeks. "Don't you—didn't you want me to row?" she shouted back.

"No, I want to row!" the nurse insisted, her brow creasing as she nodded decisively. Piper thrashed in her arms, and the nurse glanced down briefly at him before turning her driven gaze back to the farmer.

"O—Okay…" Claire carefully accepted the squalling baby from her friend and watched as she clutched the oar awkwardly before thrusting it forcefully into the water. Karen was gripping the other oar and jabbing it zealously into the churning sea, to no avail.

_They were hardly moving._ The waves dashing against the rowboat, small as they were after being broken by the ferry, easily overpowered the two inexperienced and desperate rowers inside. Slowly but surely they were being forced in the wrong direction. She felt so useless, sitting there holding a baby like a patient damsel in distress, awaiting the arrival of a miracle or a knight or _something _to save them.

"Popuri, help me get some of this water out!" Claire yelled as she bent over carefully in her seat, still cradling the baby, and scooped some water up in her hands to toss out over the boat. It didn't matter if it didn't help much—at least it was something, _anything_ to make her feel like they might have a chance. There weren't going to be any heroes for them.

"It's hopeless!" Elli cried. "It's not going to stop raining!"

Claire could feel her frustration mounting. "Yeah, it's just about as hopeless as rowing against the waves but we're doing that anyway!" she roared.

"Oh my Goddess!" Karen screamed. Her soaked hair plastered to her face made her look all the more pale, scared and lost. "It's _all _hopeless!"

"No it's not!" shrieked Elli. "We can make it if we try!"

"Then why are you crying?" Popuri wailed, dissolving completely into hot tears. The nurse threw her oar down in the boat and sat forward, covering her face with her hands.

"Because I'm _scared_, okay?"

"We're all scared!" Claire snapped as she unbuttoned the top clasps on her pajama shirt with fumbling, icy fingers. Finally, they came undone, and she tucked Piper inside before he could be exposed to the elements any longer. Redoing the buttons, she glanced back up at the other girls. "But that doesn't mean we're going to die!"

"Yes it dooooesssss…." the pinkette sobbed brokenly, dropping her head into her arms as Karen, agreeing, began to recite a prayer. "I'm never going to get married or have kids or see the world or—!"

"STOP!" the farmer roared impatiently in a raw, unknown tone. She grabbed Elli's discarded oar and aimed it at the two girls sitting across from her threateningly. "Pull it together! We are NOT going to die! We are going to MAKE IT to the shore, and when we do, I am going to make you both babysit Piper for a MONTH if you don't SMARTEN UP!"

Years of nightmares, years of worry—tears spent, love lost, dreams ruined. It was all this Goddess-forsaken ocean's fault. All the watery fear that had been weighing coldly in Claire's heart was now boiling with anger, turned to useable energy from soggy uselessness. Because now it was trying to happen _again_—and the farmer wasn't having any of that; she was done with this tempest crap that the ocean kept throwing at her.

"Claire!" exclaimed Elli, looking horrified and bewildered. "_Stop_! We have to get along! Our ship just sank and you're _threatening _them? !"

"Yes," the blonde seethed, turning her burning gaze on the nurse. "And we sure as heck are getting to that beach so I can fulfill it!"

Strangely enough, it was as though the promise of something in the future—even in the form of a threat—coupled with Claire's vicious certainty she would make it happen, was enough to reassure Karen and Popuri that maybe, just maybe, there was hope that there would _be _a future at all.

Or maybe it was Claire's scary Angry Voice.

In any case, they both stopped crying and praying and set to emptying as much water as they could from the bottom of the rowboat.

"Good," growled the farmer. She drove her oar powerfully into the rolling waters, as strongly and as quickly as she was capable of, and tried with all her might to propel the boat single-handedly in any one direction. Before long, Elli picked up Karen's oar and did her best to help.

Would the sun ever shine on her again? Often, it seemed as though it never would—as though the rain was endless, the clouds were endless, the water and the night were endless…the unseating waves rolling beneath them carrying them impossibly high, the dying beam from the ferry impossibly distant, the winds impossibly sharp and cold.

_It's all hopeless, it's all endless, and everything's impossible. Look at you, weakly splashing against the sea. Do you expect to win?_

Claire numbed to everything. After so long fruitlessly ploughing through dense, black waves, she lost feeling in her fingers and arms, which was probably a mercy since they had been burning as though on fire before the blessed dullness pervaded. The only way she knew for sure that her entire body was not numb was when she felt Piper stirring faintly against her chest. She frowned, another concern flitting through her already overcrowded and noisy mind. _Piper…he's going to get hypothermia or something…_

_What if he…dies?_

She realized she was crying when she saw Popuri staring at her with worried, scared eyes and she became aware of the contrasting warm trails down her cheeks. Her heart broke for the expression the young pinkette was wearing; it was one she knew well.

Hurriedly, Popuri snapped her eyes away from Claire's face to stare out over the rolling waters. Claire honestly didn't care if she was staring or not: she was _far _beyond manners at this point. Every person on Earth could be pointing at her and laughing for all she cared, as long as could just keep paddling. She was losing so much strength…

The pinkette's ruby eyes suddenly widened. She sat ramrod-straight in her seat, flinging a pale arm up to point at something behind the rowboat. "Oh my Goddess! _Look_!"

Claire didn't bother to turn; she could feel a big wave swelling beneath the boat and was exhaustedly trying to figure out a way to navigate around it. She felt the bench groan as Elli whirled around to look, though, and the nurse's gasp was enough to convince the blonde to take a peek.

Tiredly, she wrenched her aching body around and strained to see through the gray sheet of rain. In the distance, the tip of a rowboat's bow could faintly be seen over the white-capped crest of a wave, and then—

The rest of the dinghy came crashing down over the swollen, foaming breaker, tipping precariously close to capsizing as the four men inside roared.

"It's the boys!" shrieked Popuri, her voice breaking. "_Goddess_! They're OKAY!" She scrambled to her feet and began to wave wildly to get their attention, rocking the boat dangerously in the process. "GUYS! OVER HERE!"

Claire didn't pause to think. "Popuri—!" she screamed, lunging for the pinkette to pull her down.

"SIT DOWN, POPPY!"

"_Claire_! NO!"

With a sickening groan, the farmer felt the boat beneath her buckle and twist under the combined pressure of her weight and the powerful currents beneath—she was rolling, tossing, sliding, dragged, and then—

She was falling in slow motion. Her hair billowed around her like rays from a gossamer sun and the dark, oval-shaped outline of the rowboat sat directly above her, in stark contrast to frequent lightning strikes streaking across the sky, higher up yet. And it was so—quiet.

Peaceful.

There was no panic, no urgency about this place; it was all muted, slow, and relaxing, completely unlike the adrenaline-pumped, crazed world above. Claire felt like she was flying—she wasn't standing on anything, yet she was floating, suspended…fully supported…

…and the boat's silhouette was becoming smaller and smaller.

Her eyes widened in sudden realization. The familiar cold panic of the hectic world over the surface grasped her, startling her out of her dreamlike daze and chilling her to the bone. She was five again—a helpless baby clenched in her tight-fisted hold, her forehead stinging harshly from a blow received from an oar as she went tumbling head-over-heels into the water. The mark would never heal completely; one day, it would scar, refusing to be completely forgotten and forever serving as a painful reminder of her failings. Likewise, the baby in her fevered grasp would never fully recover. One day, she would lose him. One day soon—and many years too soon.

But not today. Today, things would be different.

She kicked out her legs and began to claw upwards in vain through the dense, foggy water. But it seemed the undertow would have none of that. It snagged her pajama pants, caught at her sleeves; heart pounding frantically, she strained and kicked and thrashed against its powerful pull, but it didn't take long for her to realize that she was literally wasting her breath as the boat's outline grew ever smaller.

Her lungs began to burn from the lack of oxygen. Chest clenching painfully, as though closing, Claire resisted the overpowering urge to scream—nobody was around to hear her anyway. She thrashed and flailed harder, using up the last reserves of her energy in futility. If these frigid and sinister depths were to be her watery grave, she sure as heck wasn't going without a fight.

As the guiding pinprick of light above all but disappeared, she comforted herself with the knowledge that at least nobody else would share her fate.

Until she felt something stirring against her bare stomach. _Piper._

_No. No no no. _It was happening all over again. Heart lurching, she buckled forward in a soundless sob—_no. This is all too horrendous and ugly and unfair. He's just a baby!_

It was happening all over again, and just as before, she'd failed. She was failing her parents one last time—she couldn't look after Benjamin, the _one _promise she'd made to them before she lost them forever, and she couldn't take care of this helpless child that was entrusted to her either. And he was going to suffer because of it. _No_.

Piper, of all people, shouldn't have to suffer for her shortcomings, especially not like this. He had such a bright, shining future if she could ever get out of his way. She was fairly resigned to her fate now, but if she could do one last thing—if, somehow, Piper could be rescued…her frenzied thoughts quickly turned to prayer.

_Dear Harvest Goddess, if there is a Harvest Goddess, please hear me and do something somehow. I know I haven't been the greatest follower, but I'd do _anything_ to make this stop. Please intervene, any way you can. Take me if you want—maybe it's what was supposed to happen all along. After all, it was hardly fair that you claimed everyone except me, but it isn't right that I have to take Piper down with me. Please, I haven't been a saint in this world. I haven't done anything noteworthy and I have my faults. Everybody does._

_But this baby doesn't, Goddess. He's just starting, and he might grow up to do or be something wonderful. He has more potential than I ever did. Think of all the things Benjamin could have done, if he didn't die—Piper could do all that still. He doesn't deserve to drown before his first birthday just because his stupid guardian was too stupid to take care of him properly. Please, just let him live…_

Slowly, her vision was fading to black as the heavy depths closed in on her. The fire blazing beneath her lungs was now an all-out blast furnace; all her instincts were screaming at her to inhale. Soon, she knew she would—she just hoped she was unconscious by then.

Arms denser than lead at her side, heavy legs that could no longer kick hung beneath. _Goddess, please hear me. _She used the last of her energy to painstakingly raise her burning-cold hands and clamp them over the buttons of her shirt. Drowsily, she wondered if Piper would be able to float to the surface…

…

Hopefully Trent would be able to cure him of any pneumonia or hypothermia… … …

…

Maybe this wouldn't be so bad…she would get to see Ben again, and maybe her parents too. She just wished it didn't have to end like this, so painfully and depressingly, before she actually did anything memorable or influential in her life. Was she leaving much behind?

…

_Only a lifetime._ She never fell in love, never went on a date. Never laughed with her children or kissed a boy or had a drink or went shopping with a close friend. Never stopped to smell the roses or dance in the rain—never found out what really happened fifteen years ago, never belted out songs in the bath. If she could go back…there were so many things she would do differently. She'd be more sociable, have a little more fun. Work wasn't everything and it didn't get you everything you wanted; she used to think that with enough effort and zeal, she could achieve anything she set her heart on. As it turned out, adding "heart" to anything just threw off the entire equation. Somehow, even with all her hard work and giving 110% to her farm, she'd missed everything that she really wanted from life.

Love. Family. Home.

…

…

If only she could have been able to pass on this knowledge to children that she would now never have. No family would grieve her.

…

_Will everyone forget me?_

…

…

_Will…anyone…miss…me?_

…

…

…

…

Rough grip on collar. Water rushing by her ears. Weightlessly heavy. Cold burning hot.

The next thing she knew, she was breaking through the surface of the water and thrust upwards into the air—_air_! Her mouth dropped open as she greedily gulped in lungful after lungful of sweet, glorious, delicious, live-giving _air. _

Someone clamped onto her tight, nearly squeezing all of the newly-acquired oxygen from her lungs, and dragged her onto something soggy but _solid_. "Claire, oh my Goddess, Claire, are you okay? !"

"Say something!" someone else cried imploringly.

She sprawled out, gasping and coughing, tears gathering at the corners of her eyes. When she tried to speak, all she could do was cough up more seawater. Someone started thumping on her back.

Finally, she managed to raise herself to trembling all-fours. Her pajamas hung off her like sopping dishrags, and it only took a second before someone wrapped her up in their arms again—and promptly began harshly squeezing and releasing her by the second. _Squeeze, _release. _Squeeze, _release. Claire coughed up yet more seawater, her eyes still tearing, and managed to rasp out incredulously between squeezes, "What—are—you—doing!"

"Heimlich," came Trent's voice from behind her, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. An alarm went off in her head, her mouth falling open. _No! _Feverishly she began to attack his arms, securing her to him, to be freed.

"_What? _No—stop! You—can't—do—that! You'll—squish—Pip—" She stopped short, her heart thumping wildly with panic as she registered the absence of the small warm body tucked up against hers. Her clawing intensified. "WHERE—IS—HE!"

"Claire, shush!" Popuri's arms snaked out of nowhere to wrap around the farmer in a tight hug. "You almost DIED down there! Stop yelling and attacking people! You're—the Girl Who Lived!"

Claire couldn't care less _what _she was. "WHERE IS PIPER!"

"Do you have any idea how _worried _we were?" Elli cried, throwing herself into the hug. "My buddy almost drowned and I couldn't do _anything!"_

"Ergh!" Trent grunted in complaint. Claire was still panicking, crying and squirming anew.

"Please! WHERE IS HE?"

"Claire, we were SO scared!" Karen wailed as she threw her arms around the tightly packed group.

"Never scare us like that again!" Kai ordered, gathering up most of them in his arms and piling on top.

"Piper—" the farmer tried again desperately.

"—Is right here!" Gray yelled over the commotion. Claire froze. A few seconds passed as she caught her breath and tried to control her shaking.

"He's okay?" she finally asked, in a small voice.

"He's just fine," Elli laughed, wiping away a tear from her eye and smiling happily. "We rescued him from your straitjacket of death when Kai first pulled you out."

"He's quite the swimmer, you know!" Popuri giggled as the beach boy grinned boyishly.

"Do you wanna hold him?" asked Gray. All she could do was nod, and the blacksmith awkwardly worked his way into the group hug to hand her the baby. She gathered his little soggy body into her arms, half-laughing and half-crying stupidly, and hugged him tightly. The interwoven group around her swayed and braced her protectively against the gentle ocean's rolling beneath them, giving her a moment to collect herself.

After a moment, she tried speaking again. "And you're _sure _he's okay?"

Trent grinned. "He'll be fine. I want to look at him again when we're in an actual clinic on actual solid ground, just on principle, but don't worry. He's fine." As if to prove the doctor's point, the pale little baby beamed toothlessly up at her with his wide, forest-green eyes.

Relief flooded Claire, and she collapsed into the network of arms. "Thank the Goddess…" She relaxed for a fleeting moment until something else occurred to her for the first time, and she shot upright to stare up at the sky—which was now the light cyan blue of early morning and _so_ clear. "Wait…what happened to the _storm_?"

"Oh, yeah! The weirdest thing," Karen exclaimed, her eyebrows knitting. Popuri nodded vigorously.

"Yeah!" she agreed. "It was sooo weird!"

"After you went down, it got _really _severe and we had a super tough time dragging Poppy out," began Elli. The farmer's eyes boggled.

"Oh, no…" she said. "So I…I did take her down with me?" She squeezed her eyes shut. "Sorry, Popuri, I was afraid you would capsize the boat when you stood up…" The pinkette laughed breezily and waved a dismissive hand.

"No worries! It was kinda fun and exciting!"

"Anyway," Trent continued, "after we got her out, there was this strange _calm_ that came over everything. The winds, the rain, the waves—everything. So we took advantage of the lull to push Kai in after you since we didn't expect it to last long, but it held—and it's still holding. The sun's rising, even. So bizarre." He shook his head.

Kai pouted. "And he's not kidding when he said they _pushed _me in. They're all mean!"

Claire grinned, smiled, then finally laughed. Maybe the Goddess had heard her prayer after all, and decided to save her life too, for whatever reason. Not that she was complaining! Happiness and gratitude bloomed in simultaneous warmth in her chest. Smiling sunnily at everyone around her, she wrapped her arms around as many people as possible and declared, "I wouldn't trade you guys for the world—you're the _best_. Thank you for diving in after me and rescuing Piper and not getting angry at me for pulling you in too and performing the Heimlich on me even though I was conscious…believe me when I say you're the best things that ever happened to me. Goddess, am I glad that's over…"

Murmurs of agreement echoed from the hug, and slowly they disentangled themselves from each other. Claire finally got a good look at what they were all sitting on—a long, flat piece of various splintering rowboat pieces, tied together with rope. "Whoa, what happened here?"

Gray grimaced. "Our rowboat hit yours, there was some spectacular splintering, and they both died. So we gave them new life with rope…"

Claire nodded in understanding, now thoroughly spent. They all sat back on the precious raft, squinting through the clear morning sunrise at the vague brown lump-shaped object clinging to the horizon. No one said anything for a while, each occupied with their own thoughts, and then:

"Are we there yet?"

"_Popuri…"_

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><p><strong>AN: Ahaha, as you can see, I just discovered the built-in line breaks. Don't laugh too hard about that, okay? xD**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for reading, and please drop off a little review as you exit. I'd be much obliged. C:**

**OH! ONE MORE THING. I edited the first chapter because, frankly, I hated it. I didn't change or add anything plot-wise, just some extra dialogue and sequences and cut others out, just to make it flow better. So if you wanna check that out (and by no means do you have to), that's up now. xD Um...yeah! Thanks again! **


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Sorry for the long period of...um...nothing. I hope this makes up for it, it's four and a half thousand words! :O Thanks again to all of you out there who favourited & reviewed. Couldn't do this without you! I hope you enjoy! :)**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Harvest Moon...**

**.:.:::.:.**

Claire thought she might have scurvy. She lay flat on her back and stared up listlessly at the blazing sun above; her enemy, for the past Goddess-knew-how-many hours. Or days. Or years. Who knew? Not Claire. She closed her eyes and watched the burned patterns dance on her eyelids like fireworks, realizing she might even be hallucinating. Hooray.

Piper was going to grow old on this raft, of that much the farmer was sure—and Claire? Well, she was probably going to completely deflate of dehydration and then flake away, dust in the wind. That white-hot, concentrated, dense ball of pure heat hanging high in the sky seemed intent on sucking all the life out of her pale, windblown body…she could feel years of her life evaporating off her…her hair losing lustre, skin wrinkling prematurely…bones turning to brittle dust…

"Claire. You don't have scurvy."

The farmer cracked a blue eye to stare up, feigningly baleful, at the dark Trent-shaped profile hovering over her. "How do _you _know?"

He sat back and sighed exaggeratedly. "And here I thought my doctorate degree might mean something to someone someday...Alas."

Claire closed her eyes again, feeling Piper shift beside her under the shade her arm was providing. "Ha. That was silly of you."

"Yeah, don't be so melodramatic," Karen murmured sleepily from somewhere beside her. "We're getting close to shore anyway…"

"Then we can stuff a lime in your mouth or something, if that'll make you feel better." The raft sank suddenly as Trent got to his feet and wandered off elsewhere. Under her eyelids, Claire rolled her eyes.

"I was just kidding, you guys. Lighten up…"

The thrill of the Sunny Island beach coming into view had worn off—well, hours ago, at least. They'd screamed and shouted themselves hoarse when the golden sands first became visible, dancing and jumping around until Karen had fallen in. Then, as it ever so slowly inched closer, the novelty had worn off.

Now they could see people dotting the shores. They were likely alerted to the ferry's fate by the captain, and had been expecting them; or, "pieces of them", as Kai had tactfully corrected. The waves incessantly pushed against the raft, playfully threatening to upset the thing. Thankfully they still hadn't returned to their former dangerous intensity and the sky remained clear and _very _sunny.

_An appropriately named island, _Claire mused irritably, squinting. "How long until we actually _get _there, do you think?"

"I dooon't knooooow," whined Popuri from somewhere behind the farmer.

"At this rate?" came Gray's grumble. "Sometime next year. _Goddess_…"

"Hey, at least we're all still alive…" Elli pointed out with a raspy voice. A few people murmured in agreement while the others licked their lips and swallowed thirstily.

"I hate salt water," Gray growled.

"Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink," Trent murmured, closing his eyes again.

"I just really want a bath," Karen sighed. "I feel so _filthy!"_

"You look beautiful," Rick reassured her bashfully.

Suddenly, Claire could feel the raft shifting and wobbling beneath them. She shielded her eyes with an arm and turned over her shoulder. "Who's doing that, and cut it out!"

Kai was standing, his knees bent as though on a surfboard as he unsettled the raft with his powerful legs and grinned wickedly. "Hey, Karen said she wanted a bath, sooo…"

Water began seeping up over the dried, hot boards of the raft as it slipped partway under. Shrieking, the girls at the bottom scrambled up to higher ground and roared at Kai to knock it off. He ignored them, beaming, and shifted the raft with greater intensity until the bottom end was finally submerged—sending Karen, Claire, and Popuri rolling into the light blue-green waters with an unceremonious splash.

"…so, I'm giving her one!"

The three girls broke the surface and splashed, spluttering. "Kai! You jerk!" Popuri yelled, shaking a fist at him. But both her waterlogged companions were distracted by something else.

"He-hey! Guys!" yelled Karen as she stood up in the water. It reached only to her waist, and she squinted up at the startled others on the raft through her dripping bangs as Claire splashed ecstatically around her.

"It's only waist-high!" shouted the blonde. She pranced up to the raft, splashing as much water as she was physically capable of and soaking Kai in the process. "Ha! Take that!"

Slowly, the others began lowering themselves into the water and shouting with delight. Claire grabbed Piper off the raft and continued to jump around in the waves, heading vaguely in the direction of the shore as the rest waded as quickly as they could through the dense water.

"Whoa! This is way faster!" Kai declared.

"We'll be there in nooo time~" Claire agreed as she splashed past him.

The people waiting lazily on the not-so-distant shore seemed to finally notice that they were actually making progress and quickly began splashing out to meet them, waving and shouting. The two parties met on the sandbar metres from shore and were immediately assaulted with towels and _water bottles _from their ecstatic hosts. Most of them were middle-aged; all seemed careworn and too long exposed to the sun.

"We were so worried about you!" cried an older woman with long, silver-streaked pink hair roped into a high ponytail as she wrapped Karen in a towel. "When we heard the _rescue relief _ship had gone down, I just—"

"Which one doctor?" asked one of the men who'd run out after the kindly woman. He'd already attracted attention from the Mineral Towners with his dark, copper-tanned skin, wild spiky hair, and rugged man-skirt made of some kind of animal skin. That was the extent of his outfit; Claire couldn't help but stare. He was like some kind of…Tarzan.

He'd obviously thrown Trent for a loop too, as it took the doctor a moment to swallow his surprise and respond. "That'd be me."

"Come with!" Tarzan said impatiently, grabbing the dark-haired physician by the arm and attempting to haul him away through the water. "Need you now!"

"Shea!" scolded another woman, this one with cropped pink hair and a nose exactly like the older woman's. "Give him some time to rest, and for crying out loud stop _scaring _them!" She rolled her eyes and turned back to Popuri, whose hair she was patting out with the towel. "Sorry, dear. He is tame, though."

Popuri giggled uncertainly, and Claire suddenly jumped in surprise as someone took hold of her arm. Whirling around, she realized it was just someone trying to give her a towel. A surprisingly tall someone with a black Stetson pulled down over his face and astonishing silver-white hair sticking wetly to the back of his neck, to be precise. "Oh, uh, thank you," she stammered, shivering a little now.

"Welcome." He turned away, sloshing through the water to a chestnut-haired woman in a red bandana and rain boots. She was busily drying off Elli and chattering casually. When he reached her side, she glanced up and then out at the line of shivering towel-clad castaways before straightening up.

Claire shivered in her towel and moved to stand beside Gray, offering him a playful hip-check in greeting. "Okay everyone!" an authoritative voice yelled. A man—a violet bandana (what was it with the bandanas here?) tied over his springy brown curls and a wide-eyed bird perched on his shoulder—moved to the front of the pack and gestured towards the shore with both arms. "Start heading to the beach!"

"I like his bandana," Kai murmured.

They moved forward as a herd, forcing heavy wearied legs through knee-high water for what seemed like several ages to Claire. Only the promise of a warm bed and possibly some food kept her from collapsing into the gently rolling ocean…which seemed like a lullaby compared to its previous roaring rock anthem of earlier that day. She still couldn't believe this was the same ocean that almost swallowed her up for good.

Twice.

At long last, the endless water beneath her feet turned to wet sand. Claire beamed, scrunching her toes through the grains and placing a restless Piper on his back to feel it. He babbled happily, raking his hands through the sand to pull up fistfuls of the stuff—and then tried to eat it. _Never a dull moment_, Claire thought wryly as she scraped grains out of his mouth.

"Okay, everyone," called a lilting woman's voice as the group gathered together on the beach and shifted expectantly.

_That voice._

The farmer froze. She looked up and squinted, straining to glimpse the speaker through the herd of her friends and failing; there was only one person she'd ever known who spoke like that.

"Your lodgings are in the hotel east of town. Just talk to Vanessa behind the counter and let her know who you are…"

Claire scrambled to her feet, her stomach twisting almost sickeningly in her excitement. Still, her view was blocked by heads and shoulders—_curse _her shortness! She pushed her way through to the front of the group and rose to her tiptoes, but all she managed to spot was a flash of red bandana before Trent, still wrapped in a towel, took centre stage.

"Look guys," he began, as Claire glowered at him from her front-row spot and tried to sneak a peek behind him, hoping to see Red Bandana again. "Yes, we're on the island now, and yes, it's been a long night—for some of us more than others—but we're all soaked and cold. Do _not _go collapse in your beds in whatever you're wearing now or I will personally break into your rooms and kick your butts—yes, Popuri, even if you're a girl. They have dry clothes at…the general store, or…something." He turned and took a few steps after the group of hosts, who were shuffling off the beach in a mass. "I'll show you all to the Inn."

Claire began trailing after him along with the rest of the Mineral Towners. She watched with interest as the sandy beach abruptly gave way to a wide, green expanse of flat land; new buildings perched on choice spots of grassy plots. One, to the right, was a squarish wooden building; a sign hanging off the door frame advertised its carpentry services. Opposite it to the left of the cobblestone path they walked down was a sturdy-looking, triangle-roofed building with its _General Store _sign prominently displayed in a large window. Outside, a softly squinting man with dark hair tied back in a bun stood behind a table stacked high with colourful, folded material. As they passed, he quickly introduced himself as Chen, the owner of the store, and offered them all free clothing. Bonus!

"The wool was shorn and dyed here, and the garments sewn right on this island," he told them proudly as they all selected knit sweaters and cozy pants from the table.

As they continued down the path, they came to a crossing; the road split, part veering right and another leading left, as the third route continued straight ahead to what looked like…the entrance to a farm. Claire hung behind to examine both other routes as the rest of the group shuffled down the path to the right.

Down the left path, a giant inn was bustling with activity. Abandoned stretchers lay strewn across the yard among various discarded tables and equipment, and the door was in constant motion with the flurry of tired, rushed doctors and nurses bursting in and out. The entire area was zoned off from the rest of the island.

"Claire," someone called, and the farmer quickly turned away and hurried after them.

"Hey, Trent?" she asked, matching her pace to his and peering up sleepily at him. "Isn't that the Inn back there…?"

"Yes, that's where all the passengers are." They crossed into the eastern section of the island, which was littered with nice, neat looking houses, diners and crisscrossing paths. A gurgling stream ran along the far east side, complete with two small bridges leading further out across the island.

"But…isn't that where we're staying?" Claire asked, confused. Her head throbbed heavily, as though waterlogged.

"Nope." The doctor turned north down another paved path and gestured at the grand, white stone building sitting patiently at the end of it. "We're staying at the hotel…and there it is there."

From behind them, Kai let out a low whistle. They pushed their way through the ornate doors, soggy shoes squelching loudly across the lush carpeting as they admired the crystalline spouting fountain stationed in the centre of the lobby. A dark-haired woman sat at the desk, scribbling hastily with a gold-toned pen. She glanced up as they squelched to a stop before her. "Oh, hello—you must be the lot from Mineral Town. I have your reservations all ready to go."

Quickly, she distributed card-keys. "You have suites 1 and 2, joined by a door as requested. Each room has two beds and a pull-out couch; we have cots as well, if you need them. Enjoy your stay!"

"Thanks!" Kai swept up the cards and bounced around to each of the rooms in turn, managing to find their suites dead last. "Here they are! Dibs on number 1~"

"You realize you have to share it, right?" snapped Rick, grabbing the key card away from the beach boy and jamming it into the slot.

"Yeah, with three others," Karen grinned. She plucked the second key card out of his clutch and used it to open the neighbouring room. "Hey, check it out, girls!"

Claire, Popuri, and Elli followed the brunette in and immediately kicked off their soaked shoes. Their room was spacious and well-lit, and smelled strongly of cleaning detergent. To the left was a granite-topped kitchenette across from a couch and a small TV; another room joined it behind glass-paneled French doors. Karen pushed them open and dropped her bag on a white, freshly-pressed bed before collapsing on top of it and exhaling heavily. "This…is…the…life."

"DIBS!" yelled Popuri, hurling herself on top of the same bed Karen had claimed and sending the brunette toppling to the floor. Elli padded in after them, surveying the bedroom uncertainly.

"Two people will have to share…" she began, "and someone has to sleep on the couch."

"I want a bed!" Popuri insisted. "I want _this _bed."

"This is _my _bed!" Karen growled, crawling back on top of it and crossing her arms.

"Okay, you two can sleep together," Elli continued. She turned to Claire, who was still standing unsteadily in the entrance and looking for a place to put Piper. "Where do you want to sleep?"

"Uh…I'll…uh…I'll take the couch," the blonde replied dazedly, then blinked slowly. The couch…yes, that sounded good. She shuffled over to it, rested Piper on a cushion, and dropped down to it with a groan.

"You know it pulls out, right?" the nurse asked, grinning slightly.

"Whatever…"

A sharp knocking sounded at their door, causing them all to jump slightly in surprise. "Who is it?" yelled Claire, still prone on the couch and her eyes squeezed tightly shut.

"Just me," called Trent's voice in reply. "Double checking that you've all changed into something dry…which you _have_, right?"

Her eyes shot open as the other girls scrambled to pull on their new woollen attire. "Uh—yep! All clean and dry stuff!"

"Okay, good. I'll be at the Inn if anyone needs me."

"Okay!" she called back, and turned to exchange a glance of relief with the others.

"Sheesh," grumbled Karen, flipping her hair out and adjusting her new sweater. "The guy's a health Nazi."

"He just wants us to be safe," Elli said distantly.

"Yeah, but doesn't the man need sleep?" Claire asked, one arm covering her eyes to block out the light. "He was up just as long as the rest of us…"

"I don't know," the nurse said with a wide yawn. She settled down sleepily into the cozy white bed. "But _I _need it…Maybe he's going to sleep later. He probably wants to get right to work… since he knows the island really well already…."

"He does?" asked Claire as she sat up. It made sense—he _had _led them to the hotel they were in now. "How? Does he know the people too?" If he did…

"…People? Probably," Elli murmured sleepily, her eyes closed. "He…used to come here with his parents when he was little…"

"I'll be right back!" Claire called over her shoulder as she leapt off the couch and headed for the door. "Sweet dreams!"

"What on…?" Karen began in hazy puzzlement.

The door closed with a slam behind her.

.:.:::.:.

Claire half-jogged, half-stumbled down the path away from the hotel, straining to remember the details of the route they had travelled to reach it. Straight down, past a bridge—whoa, was that house _pink?—_continue down by a gated, stone mansion she'd failed to notice, then out into West Town. Success!

Her brain throbbed as she studied the mass of buildings and endless sideways paths. Why weren't there any signs? She wandered half-heartedly past a house that resembled a barn before recognizing the entrance to the farm. A tired smile brushed her face—she was in familiar territory, at least. So—the Inn should be directly down this path! Right?

Bingo, she'd found it. The huge Inn loomed over her as she lifted her chin and stepped deliberately in through the ever-open door, trying to appear confident and at least semi-conscious. She may have pulled it off if her sneakers hadn't been oozing wetly all over the floor with her every step.

The Inn's lobby was in noisy, organized chaos. Nobody was behind the front desk, and serious-looking people in pressed white coats were rushing high and low, armed with various (and sometimes scary-looking) equipment. Nobody spared her a second glance save for one white-coated, bespectacled man with long, raven-black hair who skidded to a stop as he hurried past her.

"Do you require any assistance?" he asked her, searching her face with concerned eyes. Claire tucked a tangled wisp of blonde hair behind her ear nervously before replying.

"Ah, no, thank you, I'm fine," she answered. As he turned to go, she licked her lips and quickly added, "but—if you could spare the time—do you happen to know where, um, Dr. Trent is?"

She winced at the immaturity of her question; she didn't even know his last name. She may as well be a little girl asking for Doctor Joe, the family physician who gave her lollipops with every shot.

The man's expression didn't change as he turned to gesture to the far end of the main hall, where makeshift curtains and examination blocks had been set up. "I believe I saw him over there a moment ago."

"Oh, thanks!" She hurriedly made her way over, carefully stepping over wires and staring at the backs of every white-coated, dark-haired man she passed.

There were a lot of them.

Finally, Claire exhaled in relief when she spotted him kneeling over a middle-aged man spread on a sleeping bag. She hung back and waited for him to finish dealing with the patient before she bothered him. At long last he rose to his feet, raked a hand through his hair (_definitely _Trent), and turned away—the farmer in hot pursuit.

She reached out and managed to snag his sleeve. "Hey, do you have a second?"

"Hm?" He turned around to look at her, eyebrows raised. "Can I help you?"

"Um, yeah," she replied, also raising her eyebrows at his odd phrasing. "Elli said that you used to come here all the time, and that means you probably know most of the people here, so I was wondering—"

"Wait, wait," he interrupted, holding both hands up. "Who is Elli? And while we're on that topic, who are you?"

Claire let her mouth fall open as she half-stared, half-glared at him. "What are you _talking _about? Look, I'm tired and I'm not in the mood for games, okay? Will you just hear me out?"

Trent glared back at her as he shook off her hold on his sleeve. "I'm sorry, let me try again," he said slowly. "Am I supposed to know who you are?"

"Trent!" she snapped in annoyance, her voice rising. Several people glanced over in their direction. "What do you want me to do, reintroduce myself every time I want to talk to you? Do you think this is _funny_?"

The doctor blinked. "Ohhhhh," he said slowly, beginning to grin. Then he laughed out loud and rubbed the back of his neck. "Goddess, I hate when this happens."

"_What_?" she demanded as she crossed her arms. "When you randomly decide to forget about entire people? Thanks, by the way, very flattering."

"No, no," he replied, shaking his head and still smiling. "Just c'mere."

"What—" she began in confusion. He didn't give her a chance to finish as he placed a hand on her shoulder and began to steer her through the mass of people, the farmer demanding an explanation all the way. They stopped behind another dark, mussy-haired doctor with a clipboard—this one examining a child in a temporary cot. Claire's stomach twisted in dim realization, and immediately her face heated up with embarrassment.

"Hey, Trent," called the doctor behind her. "I think someone was looking for you."

"Just a sec." The _real _Trent finished scribbling something on his clipboard, murmured something reassuringly to the little girl, and turned around. "Yes?"

A moment passed in silence. Staring at her wet sneakers, the farmer felt his eyes on her and heard the laugh he stifled. "Ah…so, Claire. I see you've met my brother Alex."

Indignantly, she raised her eyes to meet his. "Why didn't you ever tell me that you had a twin brother? !"

"Because we're not twins," he replied matter-of-factly as "Alex" walked over to stand beside him, hanging one arm over his shoulder. They smiled identically at her. "Can't you see the difference?"

Claire glanced back and forth between them, her forehead wrinkled. The one called Alex had a minutely rounder face and darker eyes, maybe—ever-so-slightly shorter hair, too. "Hmph…you could still pass for twins…and you both had to be doctors and be _here_?" She looked at their clothes; both wore clean white coats, black collared shirts, and dress pants. "You even dress the same!"

"Who's older?" asked Alex, his grin growing wider by the second. Trent shook his brother's arm off and rolled his eyes.

"You always have too much fun with this," he told him before jabbing him with his clipboard. "Get back to work, slacker!"

"You just gave it away," complained the younger brother. "Fine! I'll be off saving lives if anyone needs me."

Trent made a scoffing noise as his brother walked away, then looked back over at Claire—who was still staring after Alex wearily. His smile instantly disappeared as he took a step towards her and pressed a hand lightly to her sleeve. "Hey, where are those _dry_ clothes you claimed to be wearing?"

She cringed and looked away, squelching her shoes on the carpet uncomfortably—busted. "Ah….on the couch?"

The doctor sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair, in the exact way Alex had done to unintentionally convince Claire that he was Trent. "Claire. Look, you don't need me to tell you that you've had a rough day. There was a storm at sea. Our ship sank. You almost drowned and needed a Heimlich. Then, we floated for hours on a raft in the hot sun. We all need food and rest, and you aren't helping yourself by staying awake for two and a half days and running around in twice-soaked clothing. Go back to the hotel, eat something from the fridge, change your clothes, and for the Goddess' sake _go to bed_."

Claire's mouth worked furiously. Who did he think he was—her _father_? "Fine," she finally grumbled, unable to come up with any other response…plus, she knew he was kind of right. Satisfied—but still annoyed—Trent turned to go, but she thrust out an arm to stop him. "Wa-wa-wait, I still have a question! Did you think I just ran out here to get chastised and confuse you with your surprise brother?"

He quirked an eyebrow and gave a small grin. "I wasn't chastising you. I'm not your father, y'know." Claire laughed, and the doctor crossed his arms, his tone turning sober. "In all seriousness, I wasn't trying to lecture you. But if I don't pay attention or watch out for you, who will?"

The farmer was stunned into silence. "_Me?" _she finally answered, also crossing her arms. "I'm perfectly capable, thank you!"

"You _can_," he conceded, leaning down to her height to look her directly in the eyes. She froze, staring wide-eyed back. (Yes…Alex's eyes were definitely darker.) "But you _don't_."

Claire didn't even have an answer for that. Trent straightened, congratulated himself on finally getting a point across to her, and fished a plastic glove out of his pocket. Slipping it on, he added, "Anyway, we're both needed elsewhere. What did you want to ask me?"

Flustered, the farmer struggled to put her inquiry into a coherent sentence. "Er—I—Elli—told me that you, uh, used to come here when you were little, so—um…I was wondering—well, do you know who, um…the woman that was talking to us on the beach, um, who she is? She was wearing a red bandana, and, um…she had brown hair…"

"Oh, yes," he said immediately, nodding. "She's the farmer here, actually. Figured you might want to meet her."

Claire trailed after him as he headed over to the next patient, a young woman, and knelt to test her blood pressure. A farmer? That made sense, too…if she was truly her mother, then she would certainly still have her green thumb. "Would you…would you introduce us? I'd really like to talk to her." _Actually, she's kind of the whole reason I came. _

Trent let out a long, long sigh before answering. "If I do, will you promise to go to bed _right now_?"

Claire groaned melodramatically…as if she _wanted _to stay up much later! "I _suppose…_but that's still bribery and it's illegal!"

"Oh well." Trent stood up again. "I think you'll have more trouble finding a policeman to report me to than actually following through…"

"That's downright evil."

"That," he clarified, turning to look at her, "is how I roll."

"It's true," Alex agreed, walking by them with a pair of crutches and not having a clue what they were talking about.

"Okay, well…" Claire was interrupted by a yawn of epic proportions. "Well…I'll be heading back now…you should probably sleep sometime too…"

"I slept on the ship and the raft, I'm fine. I doubt you slept at all on either." He watched her as she teetered unsteadily towards the door. "Do you need someone to walk you back..?"

"I will!" yelled Alex as he passed his brother again, grinning impishly. Trent rolled his eyes and whacked him with his clipboard for the second time. "Ow."

"I really don't think that's necessary…_you _need to work! Work more! Focus! Stop slacking off! Tow that line!"

"Stop! You sound just like Dad, it's creeping me out!"

Claire watched, amused, as Trent stalked after Alex, cackling. How had he never mentioned this guy before? Anyway, one thing was for sure—if it started off with a shipwreck and a near-death experience, then this was going to be one heck of a trip.

She only prayed that it would be everything she hoped for.

.:.:::.:.

**A/N: Oh, yeah, I guess I should mention this: you've probably figured it out by now, but Trent won the unofficial poll/vote thinger. Congratulations to him! (Don't worry, Graire girls...there are still a lot of Graire fics out there! :3 and I hope you can still enjoy the story for what it is.)**

**Anyway! Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it. I'd love a review if you have the time. :) Until next chapter!**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Thanks so much to everyone who took the time to review; you guys are the best! Sorry I'm taking so long to update; right now I should actually be studying biology...**

**Anyway! Just one thing: MagicMelody, I DO have ToTT, but I don't have a clue how to get my WiFi Friend Code, or whatever. T_T If someone could tell me how, I'd gladly exchange it with everyone xD~**

**Disclaimer: I. Don't. Own. Harvest. Moon.**

.:.:::.:.

Claire raised a few patrons' delicate eyebrows trudging through the spotless hotel lobby in her stiffly dried, windblown pajamas and muddy boots, but by the time she got to her room—actually, long before then—she couldn't care less. If she'd ever once for a second thought herself exhausted back on her farm…well, that didn't hold a candle to the way she felt now.

Her body was so slow and heavy, she almost felt as if she were drowning again. With leaden arms she pushed the door open and slumped inside the darkened room, only to be greeted by a familiar wail.

"Oh, Piper," she mumbled in a barely-conscious haze as she scooped him off the cushion and cradled him against her chest, reclining on the couch with a groan. Almost instantly, he quieted and pressed his face against her. "Are you hungry or did you make a stinky…?"

Someone flicked the lightswitch on. Claire hissed like a vampire and threw an arm over her eyes, curling into Piper, and Karen's matter-of-fact voice inserted, "No, I think he just wanted _you_."

"Why _me_?" the farmer groaned, flailing one arm. "And please turn the light off…!" Karen rolled her eyes but obliged, and Claire snuggled down on the couch, yawning. "Thank you…"

The brunette stood in the doorway between the main room and the bedroom, in a woolen robe and slippers, and tapped her foot. "Claire, where were you?"

Her friend made a pitiful whining sound. "I went to ask Trent something," she moaned, nuzzling the pillow. Piper made a cooing noise and clamped on tightly to her collar, and she blinked slowly down at him. Beautiful, forest-green eyes. "Uh…um…why, are you going to ground me?"

Karen scoffed. "No, you just need some sleep, girl! We all got a power nap in while you were gone. Well, once we found the complimentary earplugs in the bathroom and could block out that child's wailing…"

Claire tore her gaze away from the baby and looked up at her friend. "What? Why didn't you _do _something about it?"

"We tried," Elli called from the bedroom. "He wouldn't eat or sleep and his diaper was dry. He just missed you!"

_Whatever_. Claire pulled the folded blanket up over her body and rolled over, exhaling heavily. It felt heavenly to have something else fully supporting and cushioning her, for a change. Faintly, she heard Elli call Karen back to bed, and knew that the four of them would likely sleep the rest of the day away.

That was until Popuri woke up.

"…Hey girls?"

"Mnnhhhmphh," Karen grunted. Claire's eyelids fluttered slightly.

"We haven't had a sleepover party in, like, _ever_."

"You mean since the beach party?" the farmer asked, eyes still scrunched closed.

"Nnnmmmh…" Elli agreed sleepily. Sheets rustled as the pinkette sat up in bed.

"Yeah but we all went right to sleep then. We should talk about boys!" she squealed.

"Okay," Karen groaned into her pillow. "I'm crushing hardcore on your brother—oh wait, we're engaged. Guess that cat got out of the bag. Now will you go to _sleep_?"

Popuri ignored her future in-law and hissed to the nurse across the room, "Hey Elli, who do _you _like?"

"N—nobod…can we not talk about this now?" she stammered.

"Fine. Hey Claire, who do you like?"

The blonde stuffed her head under her cushion and hoped that Popuri would assume she was asleep.

Rustling. "She's probably asleep, Poppy."

"Oh, fine. Isn't someone going to ask me who I like?"

"Kai," Elli sighed. The pinkette's dark silhouette stiffened.

"_How did you know_?"

"Poppy, just go to sleep."

Several minutes passed in silence. Claire was just drifting off when the young woman spoke up again, startling her and sending her cushion tumbling to the carpeted floor. "Claire? What was it like to almost drown?"

The farmer blinked up at the dark ceiling, her brain struggling to comprehend the question. What it was like? It was like…like… "Uhm, like…almost dying…"

Someone snorted. "Well duh," came Karen's comment.

"So you _are _awake," Elli mused.

"But did you have any deep spiritual moments? Were you scared? Did you cry? Did your life flash before your eyes?"

"I—I don't know…" It wasn't the whole truth. "It was—it felt like the world was closing in on me, but getting smaller and farther away at the same time. In slow motion. And it was so cold, at first, but then…it started feeling hot. And my lungs felt like they were on fire."

The others were quiet for awhile. "Were you scared?" Popuri asked again, her voice hushed.

Claire thought about it. Panicked, yes, and that implied fear. "I guess so…but it was actually easier to accept than you might think… I mean, it wasn't like I was leaving much behind."

The three other women instantly gasped, and the farmer cringed. She probably shouldn't have said that. "CLAIRE! You have an amazing life, and so much to look forward to, so much to do—"

"I know!" she interrupted the frantic nurse, pulling Piper closer. He fidgeted slightly then resettled against her, a warm, soft, comforting form. "Well, I mean, maybe. What I mean is…I didn't mean to sound so…depressing…but it's not like I'm irreplaceable..."

"To Piper you obviously aren't," Elli murmured. Claire's reply was cut off by a wide, exhausted yawn.

"Can we please go to sleep now?" Karen complained. The others murmured replies and rolled over, but Claire nestled the baby in the crook of her elbow.

_To Piper you obviously aren't_. Maybe Elli had a point. As if he could feel her eyes on him, Piper lifted his chin and stared straight up at her—before breaking into a wide, toothless, adorable smile. She almost felt her heart melt as she pressed a quick, butterfly-light kiss on his forehead and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

.:.:::.:.

Daylight was filtering in through the Venetian blinds when Claire woke up to the smell of fried eggs. Disoriented, she sat up and blinked sleepily before shifting the groggy baby in her lap to a more comfortable position. Any peace from the night before had disappeared as his hands curled into tight fists, his brow scrunched and on the verge of tears. "Oh, goo' _morning_, Pipah…"

Her voice was heavy, and she blinked—her head felt congested, and her chest was tight with pressure.

Great. She had a cold.

Probably from sleeping in her damp clothes…

"Good morning, _Claire_," Popuri shot back with a giggle. She dropped down to the couch beside the farmer and offered her a plate of food. "We ordered room service!"

"FOOHD!" she cried thickly. Greedily, the farmer grabbed up the plate and quickly wolfed it down as Popuri looked on in mild shock. "Mmm…tha' was good."

Elli giggled from her place at the counter, where she was devouring her meal in a decidedly more ladylike fashion. "Claire definitely needs to find a man that can cook."

A dreamy look came over the farmer's face. "Yeah…"

"Trent can cook," Elli added suddenly, also looking thoughtful. There was a long silence in the room.

"Anyway…" Karen broke in, leaning against the mini-fridge in the kitchenette and finishing off her breakfast. "What's the plan for today, ladies?"

Popuri bounced up and down on the couch, upsetting Piper as Claire suddenly began to panic. "I wanna go meet everybody! Maybe there are some cute boys here, hey, El and Claire?"

"I want to see if I can be of any help at the temporary clinic," Elli murmured, tugging on her dress awkwardly. "Trent might need me."

Karen nodded thoughtfully, then noticed Claire scrambling desperately around in a pile of clothes. "Uh…Claire, dear, what are you doing?"

"I ned…Pipah's formula," she groaned, tossing wet garments over her shoulder as she searched. "Ohmahgawdess…I bet I didn't even bring it innnn!"

Karen examined her fingernails. "It's probably a mile under the sea by now, Claire. Ask Trent if he can make up some more."

"Ohkahh." Claire straightened, worry lines still creasing her brow, and made for the door. "Be back later."

"Hold up, cowgirl," Popuri giggled, snagging her collar with a slender finger. "Shouldn't you change out of your pajamas?"

"Oh….righ'." Back at the pile of clothes, she sniffed and dragged a sleeve across her nose, then sniffed again. "Guh…which one of these are mine?"

"Oh, just grab whatever," Elli said as she got up from her place and put her dishes in the sink. She smoothed her skirt out and walked over to help the farmer. "Maybe you should just stay here? You sound sick, after all…"

"Humm…" She had to admit that it _did _sound tempting. However, there was something else that she wanted to bug the doctor about. "Nah. Ss'okay, but thanks, Ell."

The nurse's shoulders slumped ever-so-slightly. "Okay," she answered brightly. "But I still think I'll come with you!"

Claire sniffed again. "Mmkay." Quickly, she ducked into the bathroom and pulled the loose-fitting woolen hoodie and slacks on, relishing the feeling of the warm—if bulky—and soft fabric against her chilled skin. She nestled Piper against her chest and secured both arms around his tiny body, checking to make sure that he was wearing his bracelet. Stepping out again, she nodded to the nurse. "I'm ready."

Elli followed her out, and the two stopped in the hallway. Claire moved to quit the hotel but the nurse turned away and knocked sharply on the room next door. "Hey, Claire, hold up—he might be back by now."

A groggy-looking, mussy-haired Kai answered her knock. "Yuh?"

"Afternoon, Kai!" the nurse chirped happily. "Is Trent in?"

The beach boy blinked—slowly. "….Nnnno."

"Drats." She closed the door in his face, too deep in thought to realize her faux pas. And Claire was too distracted to reprimand her.

"_Afternoon_?"

"Oh, yeah, it's almost 2pm."

"_Great_." Piper snuffled sullenly in her arms. "Well, we'd better get going then!"

The two women hurried out of the hotel, then stared blankly down the long path. "Uh…which way do we go?" Elli asked.

Claire blinked slowly for a second before brightening. "Oh! I remebber! Follow'm!"

They set off determinedly down the trail, unaware of the pair of scarlet eyes following their movement from beside the Inn.

.:.:::.:.

The commotion at the Innfirmary (which was what the residents had nicknamed the Inn-turned-temporary clinic) had slowed down substantially since the previous day, Claire noted as she led the nurse down the final path. The stretchers outside had been cleared up, and more people now stood outside on the lawn casually. She wondered if they were recovered patients or the family of those still recovering—or a mix of both.

Inside, however, the activity was just as crazy as ever. Evidently the crew of the Mineral Town ferry had landed on the beach the previous night, and the doctors were rushing all over the place to care for the newest arrivals. Claire bounced Piper gently in her arms and Elli glanced around, trying to spot Trent through the heavy current of ever-rushing whitecoats.

"There he is!" the nurse cried excitedly, tugging on Claire's sleeve as she headed off after some dark-haired doctor ducking through the crowd. The farmer followed, pursing her lips; she wondered if her friend was about to make the same mistake she had.

"Stop right where you are!" Elli exclaimed in a teasing tone, grabbing ahold of the man's collar and causing him to stagger backwards in surprise. "We need to talk to you!"

Eyes narrowed, the mussy-haired doctor spun around to look at her. The nurse began chattering happily, satisfied that her mission was complete, but his expression remained uncomprehending and slightly affronted. Claire bit her lip and grinned—why did she _always _run into Alex instead of Trent?

And should she say something?

The question quickly became irrelevant as he happened to flick his eyes over briefly at her, and understanding instantly dawned over his features. He visibly relaxed, and even chortled like he had the day before. "Excuse me," he said to Elli, placing a hand on her shoulder. She stopped, looking confused.

"Uh…yes?"

"I'd like to introduce myself."

"_What_?" Elli squinted up at him and took a step forward. "Trent, you really need a break—"

"No, Elli," Claire giggled. "Let him finish."

Alex took the nurse's hand in his and shook it firmly, still grinning. "Hi, I'm Alex, Trent's brother. You must be his nurse, Elli. Am I right?"

The brunette full-out gawked at him, her mouth hanging ajar and her eyes as wide as saucers. Claire leaned forward and gently pinched her friend's jaw with one hand, moving it up and down as she answered for her in a squeaky voice: "Yes, I'm Elli, it's a pleasure to meet you!"

Alex laughed and released her hand. "Nice to see you again too, Claire. I'm guessing you both came here to see my brother though, not me again?" He pouted.

Claire started to move Elli's jaw again in a reply, but the nurse embarrassedly swatted her hand away. "Never do that again," she ordered. "My voice does _not _sound like that!"

"No, it doesn't," Alex agreed cheerfully. "Jeez, Claire, get it right."

"I'm guessing you two already know each other?" Elli asked wearily.

"Yep," they said at the same time. Readjusting Piper, Claire added, "I did the exact same thing as you did, except instead of just telling him he needed a break, I yelled at him for being a jerk and pretending he didn't know me…"

"It was quite funny," agreed the dark-eyed doctor. He noticed Elli still staring at him in utter confusion and raised an eyebrow.

"His _brother_? I can't believe Trent never told me about you!" she groaned. Alex shrugged as his eyes lingered, puzzled, on the baby in the blonde farmer's arms.

"Can't say I talk about him too much with my nurse, either. Just doesn't come up. Anyway…can I help you two ladies locate him?"

"Yes!" Claire said eagerly. "_Please_. This place is a disaster!"

"Follow me."

He took off in a speed-walk, twisting and turning through the surging crowd and carefully stepping over stretchers the girls likely wouldn't have noticed and tripped over. Suddenly, he took a sharp left into one of the actual inn rooms.

The arrangement was completely different than what Claire would have expected; huge, the rooms were crammed with bunk beds in every available space, many of them occupied by snoring whitecoats. Several people—mostly nurses—ran in and out, toting brown paper bags that they left near sleeping doctors before scurrying out again.

Alex wove through a confusing network of bunks before stopping in front of a seemingly random one—where Trent lay sprawled on his back with his head stuffed under the small, square pillow.

Claire fell back to stand beside Elli, who was nibbling her fingernails. "I kind of feel guilty waking him up…" she murmured uncomfortably. The nurse nodded in agreement.

Alex obviously didn't share their sentiments. Unceremoniously, he dropped heavily onto the thin mattress, causing the springs to groan in protest and Trent to sit up ramrod-straight, blinking blearily as the pillow fell into his lap. His eyes narrowed as they came to rest on his brother. "You."

"You," Alex shot back, turning around to sit cross-legged on the bunk and face his brother. "Slacker."

Trent fell back against the mattress and rubbed his eyes. "Whyyy did you wake me uuuuppp…."

The younger brother stood again. "Because two young women came to see you and needed assistance." As Trent sat up, Alex lamented, "Why don't young women ever come to see _me_?"

"You even need to ask? That sounded really creepy." With a groan, the older brother turned to stand up, and noticed Claire and Elli standing stiffly behind Alex for the first time. "Oh…hi."

"Hi Trent," Elli greeted, then burst out laughing. "You look _so _funny when you first wake up!"

"Gee, thanks. I try." He yawned widely before finally standing up beside his brother. "What time is it…?"

"A little after 2pm," Claire answered. Trent looked over at her and grinned smugly.

"Ha! You finally changed."

"Yup," she agreed, then coughed thickly into an elbow. Piper snuffled and wiped his nose across her woolen shirt.

"And…you're sick."

Claire decided that it was a good time to change the subject. "Sooo! Trent, is there any chance I could get some more formula for Piper?"

Alex grinned. "Well, bro, it makes me feel better that they only come to see you when they need something." Trent rolled his eyes.

"Well, actually," Elli said slowly, "I came here to see if I could help in any way…" She looked over at the other nurses nearby. "It looks like I'm supposed to be bringing in brown paper bags…?"

"Oh, that would be lunch," Trent explained. "Don't bother, I'll be heading out in a second anyway."

"Don't be ridiculous! It's my job, isn't it?" the nurse asked as she tore off in the direction of the main hallway.

"Not exactly," muttered Alex, tilting his head to one side. Trent just shook his head.

"Let it be, it makes her happy. Anyway…" he turned back to Claire. "Oh, right. Formula. Let me take a look at what they have in the back, okay? Just hold on, I'll be right back."

As he walked away, Alex shook back his sleeve to check his watch. "I should probably head back out too. Good luck, see you around!"

"Okay, bye," Claire called after him. "Thanks for your help!"

He disappeared out the door, and Claire crawled onto the bunk bed with Piper cradled in her lap. He squirmed unhappily, his forehead scrunched and little feet kicking. The farmer sighed and gathered him up in her arms; what else could she do but wait?

It wasn't long before Elli rounded the corner, humming cheerfully with a brown paper bag in tow. "This is for Trent," she told Claire happily as she dumped the bag on the bunk. "It's his lunch. If he asks, I'll be out in the hall helping Alex. Bye!"

"Mmkay, I'll tell'm later. See ya!"

Back to waiting. Claire and the bag sat on the bunk staring at each other as she tried to ignore her stomach's greedy rumblings at the thought of more food—_Trent's lunch, not mine…Trent's lunch, not mine…Trent's lunch, not mine…_

There _had _to be something in there that he didn't like, though…something he definitely wouldn't miss! And right now, Claire was willing to eat just about anything.

She was just tearing into the bag when the man in question returned, so she quickly threw it behind her and looked up innocently at him. "Trent, hi! Sooo, any luck?"

"Yep." His back to her, he set a bag of supplies on the bed and began rooting through it. "There are _tons _of recipes back there, so I picked the easiest one. It'll only take a few minutes to make."

"Awesome! Do you like blueberry muffins?" she asked, peering into the lunch bag.

"Uhh…not particularly. Why?"

Claire lunged for the muffin and carefully peeled off the paper. "Hm, that's really interesting!"

"I guess…"

The farmer bit into the muffin and savoured the delicious, fluffy muffin-taste. It didn't take her long to finish it off and continue poking through the lunch bag—there was so much food in there!

"Do you like egg salad sandwiches?"

"Um…"

"Are you a banana fan?"

"What?"

"Hmm…hey cool, an apple. An apple a day keeps the doctor away, hm? I bet you don't like apples." Trent was busily carefully measuring something white and powdery, so Claire took his silence as agreement and chomped down on the fruit. "Mmmm…"

"Ah, there we go." Trent added water to the mixture and shook it aggressively before pouring it into a large thermos while Claire contentedly munched behind him. He turned around and offered her the thermos, and his eyes widened in surprise as he saw the mess of food around her for the first time. "Claaaire! Is that my lunch?"

A funny look came across her face as she froze mid-chew. "Looking guilty isn't going to help," he told her, crossing his arms. "And you got apple juice all over my bunk!"

The look on her face intensified. Trent sighed, raising an eyebrow. "You can apologize anytime now, you know."

Claire's nose wrinkled, and her mouth fell open slightly. "Ah…Ah…."

Trent smiled victoriously. "I'm waaaaaiting."

"Ah….CHOOOO!" she finished, sneezing violently into the paper bag.

"Oh, that was just lovely, _thank you_," he groaned in disgust.

Looking satisfied, she dragged a sleeve across her nose and sniffed thickly. "Sorry…you can 'ave the rest of it!"

"Ohhhh no," Trent insisted, shaking his head as she offered him the bag of contaminated food. "No no no. It's _all _yours now. I _insist_. Help yourself!"

Claire couldn't help but giggle. "I thought you'd say that…"

Trent grinned at her, amused; he couldn't even feel annoyed about her lunch-thievery anymore. Not when he was cooking up this brilliant plan. "So, you ate all my food; I think you owe me."

"Hm, I do, too." She finished off the apple and started on the egg salad. After taking one bite, she looked at it thoughtfully, then offered it to the doctor. "Hey, I don't think I got this when I sneezed. Want the rest?"

Still smiling, he shook his head. She shrugged and continued eating it. "But I _am _still hungry…"

"Well, I tried to give—" Claire began in frustration. He held a hand up to stop her.

"I know, but I know a really nice diner around here, and my break doesn't end for another hour." She perked up, and he knew she was sold. "You have room for any more food?"

"Uh, _yes_."

"Great, my treat."

.:.:::.:.

It was a beautiful late summer afternoon. They strolled lazily down the path towards East Town (where Trent claimed all the restaurants were), passing few words between them and just enjoying the feeling of the warm breeze through their hair. It had been a hectic few days for everyone, and they both agreed that it was relaxing to just _walk_.

"So…how did you start coming to this place, anyway?" Claire asked, after Trent had waved to at least three people she didn't recognize. Several others had stopped them to ask if Piper was their child, which was becoming increasingly awkward—but they had managed to get away from the topic by laughing it off and then inevitably talking about the weather.

He chuckled, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Well. I've mentioned that shipwreck all those years ago, right?" Claire nodded.

"Yeah, fifteen or so."

"Right. Well, the same thing sort of happened then as it did now; small-town physicians from all the nearby settlements were called in for emergency relief, and my parents—who were both in the medical profession—were included. They homeschooled my brother and I and we didn't have any nearby relatives, so we had to come along with them." He grinned at the memory. "They tried to make it into a tropical family vacation, or tried to; all our family vacations always ended up more like educational field trips."

"Aww, it still sounds fun."

"It was, for the most part. I didn't like seeing the village in crisis mode, of course, and the families of all the victims…" He sucked in his breath and paused. "Well, it was a lot worse than this last one was. Miraculously nobody was seriously hurt. Last time…"

Claire let the unfinished sentence hang in the air, not wanting to pressure him for details. By now, she had a pretty good idea what happened 'last time'. "Yeah…I see…so, you kept coming back?"

He nodded, kicking a stone down the path. "Yeah, my parents befriended some of the survivors—the diner's just up here—and some of them decided to stay and try to build the island up to its former glory." Trent glanced over at her. "The farmer you want to meet? She's one of them. We came back for a while to check up on their recovery."

Claire stared at the ground going by under her feet. "The farmer….Did she have a husband that you remember?"

Trent was quiet for a long time. "A lot of people lost family members, Claire. I don't remember. She wasn't—with a man when we found her…if memory serves, she was alone. No family at all."

"Oh." Her heart thudded painfully, although she couldn't honestly say she was surprised. There was no evidence on this island at all that her father had ever been here—but it was a crushing blow to hear Trent say he didn't remember any family at all associated with the brunette farmer. But until she spoke with the woman herself, she was resolved not to give up hope.

"Here we are—Luke's ever-popular diner," Trent said brightly, breaking through her pensive silence. She smiled and murmured a thank-you as he held open the door and stepped in after her.

Several round tables were spread around the wide floor, and a single counter ran along the far wall where a man with a sprinkling of grey hair was taking orders on a notepad. Delicious, fresh-baked aromas floated around the entire room.

"Hey, this place is really ni—oh, I'm _really_ sorry!" Claire gasped, stumbling backward after walking smack into someone who was just leaving the restaurant.

"Oh, don't worry about it," the person returned cheerfully before turning to go. Claire stared unbelievingly after her—it was Red Bandana.

"Err—wait, please," she called after her, following her to the door. The brunette woman turned around.

"Yes? Oh, you're one of the girls from the raft," she said with a pleasant smile, brushing a hand against Claire's arm. The blonde beamed back, taking a step closer. "How are you doing?"

"Huh? Oh, just fine thanks," she answered hurriedly. "But—um…I just wanted to ask, I was wondering if—well, is your name Aurelie, by chance?"

"Aurelie?" the brunette repeated, her large blue eyes searching Claire's identical, hopeful pair. "No, I'm sorry, dear. You must have the wrong person. I'm Chelsea, I've been running the ranch here for about fifteen years. It's a pleasure to meet you." She held out her hand.

Claire stared back blankly. Not—_not _Aurelie? _Chelsea_? But she was so sure... "Oh," she finally emitted, completely deflating with disappointment as she limply shook the older woman's hand. "Chelsea. Pleasure, I've heard so much about you; you must be so proud of this island. I'm—a rancher from Mineral Town…um, Claire."

"Claire?" Chelsea repeated, her eyes lighting up. Just as quickly, the blonde felt a fragile hope blooming in her chest. Maybe this was it! Maybe Chelsea really _was _Aurelie and just needed to hear her daughter's name to twig all the memories and then she would remember everything and then—

"My daughter's name is Claire."

Claire's mouth fell completely open. She was almost too shocked to speak, but just as she loosened her tongue and got it working again, Chelsea rushed on. "She's back at the ranch now, I think. I'm sure you'll run into her some time or another. Oh, is that your baby? He's adorable! Anyway, I won't keep you longer, and I better be heading back to work now—cows to milk, crops to water; you know the drill! I'll see you later. Bye!"

Even after Chelsea had disappeared out the front door, Claire remained rooted to her spot in the middle of the floor, staring at the doorway, as though she could will the brunette to come bursting back in and explain that it was all a big joke.

But she didn't. And just like that, her hopes were brutally dashed.

Chelsea wasn't her mother. Both she and her father were probably dead and had been since that fateful day. There was nothing left for her on this island.

Or anywhere.

"Hey, are you okay?" asked Trent from beside her, placing a comforting hand on her back. Briefly she wondered how long he'd been standing there.

"Fine," she replied tonelessly as she let him guide her to a table and pull out her chair. "Thank you."

A waiter approached them and gave the usual spiel; Claire didn't hear a word of it. He placed menus in front of the both of them and sashayed away.

Trent glanced at her over his menu. "Not hungry anymore?"

She blinked, zoning back into the real world. Hungry? "Oh…Not really."

He put down his menu. "What's wrong? You've been down ever since Chelsea introduced herself, which you wanted to happen anyway. How could making a new acquaintance be such a bad thing?"

"She—" Claire's throat tightened painfully. "She's not…I thought…it's going to sound crazy."

Trent, his head now resting in his hand, raised an eyebrow. "Shoot."

"It's a long story," she added, as if to dissuade him from wanting to know.

"I'm listening."

Uncomfortably, Claire fiddled with Piper's bracelet, exhaling heavily. Now or never. "Okay. You know…the shipwreck—the first one? Well—my family was in it." Trent instantly straightened and leaned forward, as though to catch every word. Claire blinked in surprise but continued. "Um…I don't remember most of it, because I was really young. What I do remember, I tend to have nightmares about. I—we were always on the move, um, when I was little—we'd move from farm to farm. I guess we were avoiding something, I don't know. But it was during one of those moves that my—my Dad…" Her voice broke. She stubbornly wiped her eyes with her fists and continued. "He wanted to move overseas. So we got on the ship, but there was a storm. They put me and my little brother in one life boat while they waited for another. I was—supposed to look after him." The farmer had to pause to collect herself; the last thing she wanted was to burst into tears in the middle of the dinner. Suddenly, she desperately wished they were somewhere more private. "Can we…can we go outside?"

"Of course." He abruptly stood up, forcing his chair back loudly and moving to help her up.

"No, wait, I'm sorry, your lunch—"

"I'll get it later."

"Okay," she murmured meekly. After accepting the arm he offered, they quickly exited the restaurant and went to sit in the shade of a nearby oak. The peace and warmth of the day relaxed her as she sprawled out in the grass and stared up at the clouds. Beside her, Trent also spread out and began picking idly at the grass as he waited for her to continue.

"This better?"

"Yes, thanks. Anyway." She let out a heavy sigh as she placed Piper down in the grass, continuing her story with her eyes closed to the sunlight. "My brother—his name was Benjamin—and I were supposed to go with the other kids in the boat to the nearby shore of the mainland. My parents…promised to meet us there later. Ben was just a baby."

They were both quiet as Trent mentally filled in the blank she left. He could surmise that her parents had never shown up, but he was at a loss as to the story of her brother. The past tenses she was using to describe him were throwing on alarm bells everywhere.

He would never have guessed that such tragedy had struck her so long ago.

"That's how I met Kai. Don't—don't bring it up, but he was one of those kids too. You know, on the boat. All of us…or most of us, I guess…washed up later on the shore of the mainland in what was left of our lifeboat, and we were all convinced that our parents were coming for us. Him especially. There was an orphanage on the shore…the Harvest Goddess' Home for Lost Children, I think it was called; it had some cheesy name…that took us in. I guess we all knew, after awhile, that they weren't coming, but it just seemed wrong to give up hope. That's why there's so much friction between Kai and his parents, why he doesn't like to talk about them. The ones he really grew up with were adoptive parents that he never forgave for adopting him when he thought his real parents would show up any day. The _fit _he threw when they came to pick him up…" Claire released another gusty, hollow sigh.

Moments passed in heavy silence. Trent finally asked, "Did you ever get adopted?"

She laughed scornfully. "No, I made sure of that. They wanted to separate me and my brother, and that was _not _happening. I was an absolute monster towards any couple that came to see me. And after my brother—" the blonde stopped short.

"If you don't want to talk about it, it's fine," the doctor assured her quietly, reaching a hand out to brush her shoulder.

Claire squeezed her eyes shut tighter. She'd held all of this in for far too long; the faint memory of Pastor Carter scolding her for "internalizing" was suddenly fresh in her mind. He was right, she realized. And it felt good to get it all out in the open, like airing dusty laundry. Trent was listening to her sob story so quietly and patiently—what did she really have to hide?

With the exception of the Gift her brother (and Piper) had, and the Harvest Sprites…not a whole lot.

"Well, my brother died," she explained softly. She was incredibly grateful for the comforting hand on her shoulder, even as the grip tightened minutely in surprise. "It was—my fault. Entirely. I promised my parents to look after him but I fell in the water and he got hypothermia and never recovered and when we got to shore he—"

Before she knew it, she was completely dissolving in tears…but for the first time in her life, she felt comforted. Trent wrapped his arms around her shoulders and held her reassuringly as she sobbed, letting it all out. She'd never felt so exposed and vulnerable, yet at the same time…completely protected.

Weird.

It was like he was lifting some of the burden off of her just by listening.

She didn't know how long they stayed like that. With a final sigh she pulled away, rubbing at her still-watery eyes. "I'm sorry. Thank you."

"Don't be, and you're welcome."

Claire sat on her knees and stared down at Piper, who was now fast asleep in the grass. Now, she felt more than a little embarrassed about the show of emotion and decided to wrap up her long-winded life story. "I'd always known the wreck happened near this island, so when I found out you were going, I just couldn't…stop myself from wondering. I thought if my parents somehow survived, they would probably be _here_."

Trent watched her carefully, now realizing that the state she'd been in after meeting Chelsea was one of utter disappointment. "So…you think Chelsea might be your mother?"

"_Thought_," the blonde corrected bitterly. She smoothed down a wrinkle in Piper's sleeper. "I know now she isn't."

"That's where you might be wrong."

She looked up at him confusedly, wisps of hair falling over her eyes. "No, she isn't. Her name is Chelsea, she doesn't remember a thing about me, and she has another daughter named Claire."

Trent shook his head and smiled, sitting back in the grass thoughtfully. "I don't want to get your hopes up too high, so remember that this is just a _possibility_, but Chelsea was one of the people my parents returned time and time again to check up on."

"Why? That woman is fitter and healthier than _I _am."

"Thing is, since the shipwreck…she's been a victim of severe amnesia."

Claire stared at him as her mind began to race again with all the possible implications.

"Didn't remember a thing about her past life. Her own name, her background, her family…all complete blanks."

.:.:::.:.

**A/N: Dun. Dun. DUUUNNN.**

**Grargh, sorry that this chapter was so long and tedious, and Claire was all /_-" angsty at the end of it. I hate it. A lot. BUT, it's good for the plot and all that, and clears up most of the stuff about her past. (But not all, nyarharharhar)**

**Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed parts of it anyway xD Please leave me a review if you get the chance. Ciao~**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Aaaargh. Again...I'm just really sorry about how long this is taking. I'm just really busy! I haven't...like...**

**...died...or anything. D: REALLY sorry! But you guys are just so lovely and nice and patient and...-goes on-**

**Sorry. You don't want to read this. xD ON WITH THE CHAPTER!**

**DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN A THING.**

* * *

><p>Claire's mind was made up.<p>

Cradling Piper carefully in her arms and turning her collar up against the wind of the coming fall, she stood sturdily behind the brightly painted Sunny Island farmhouse door and waited for someone to answer her knock.

Sure, it had taken her a fitful night of tossing and turning to garner the courage to come here. And sure, Chelsea probably wouldn't want to talk to yet another person about her amnesia—to a stranger, no less. But there was just one thing Claire had to know: did Chelsea have the blue necklace that her mother always wore? If she did—

The doorknob rattled, snapping Claire's thoughts back to the present, and the door flew open to reveal a silver-haired little girl. "Hi!" she chirped, flashing Claire a quick, wide smile (missing front teeth and all), before turning to sprint off. A hand snaked out of the house to snag the back of the girl's shirt as she took her first big step off the threshold.

"Hold it right there, young lady," Chelsea's voice commanded playfully, as the brunette rancher herself stepped into sight. "How do we greet people for the first time?"

Claire smiled down at the adorable little girl, who squirmed impatiently in her mother's hold, grinning all the while. She looked about six years old and was undoubtedly one of the prettiest children the blonde had ever seen: a porcelain complexion, wide blue eyes, and silvery-white hair cropped at the shoulders and falling across her heart-shaped face. She sighed dramatically and turned to smile back up at Claire.

"Helloooo," she said, enunciating carefully, "my name is Claire Vaults, I'm six and a half years old and I'm _very _pleased to meet you!" Then, when her mother nudged her, she stuck out a little hand for Claire to shake.

Claire's heart clenched, and she hoped it didn't show in her eyes. "Hi, Claire," she replied softly, shaking the little girl's hand after shifting Piper to one arm. "My name is also Claire, and I'm happy to meet you too."

Little-Claire's eyes lit up. "YOUR NAME IS CLAIRE TOO? _That's soooo cool! _Maybe our mommies are friends!"

Chelsea laughed lightly and rested a hand affectionately on her daughter's head. "Maybe so, dear. Now why don't you do Mama a favour and check on the new baby chicks?"

While the blonde was relieved to see the little girl race off to the chicken coop, she could also feel a knot of dread hardening in her stomach. Why did Chelsea want her daughter gone? She didn't know why Claire was on her doorstep yet. Did she herself want something from Claire?

As little-Claire disappeared into the coop, Chelsea sighed heavily and rested a light hand on Claire's shoulder. "It's good to see you. Come in, come in."

Smiling uncertainly, Claire stepped after the older rancher into her wide, spacious main room. Chelsea sat her down at the old-fashioned, rustic table and busied herself making tea as Claire looked around awkwardly. A modern kitchen lined the wall adjacent to the door, three beds were tucked into the far corner of the house, and two polished wooden doors stood proudly built into the last wall, presumably leading to a bathroom and possibly a sauna.

"I'm glad you came." Chelsea's voice interrupted Claire's thoughts. She looked over at her hostess apprehensively, suddenly and inexplicably nervous, and clutched Piper more securely in her arms. "There's something I sort of wanted to talk to you about."

"R-really?" Claire asked, genuinely surprised. "Well…I hope I can help." _And I hope you can help me._

"Yes." Chelsea sat down across from the blonde with a sigh and poured two steaming mugs of tea. "Can I get you anything to eat?"

_That means she doesn't expect this to be quick. _"No, thank you."

"Alright, there you are." The brunette passed a mug over to Claire and sat back in her seat, searching Claire's face with intent, focused eyes. "I wanted to ask you about the name you called me the other day."

_Aurelie. _Claire gasped mid-sip and choked on her tea. "I—I'm sorry," she coughed, her eyes watering. "It was just a silly mistake. I thought you were somebody else."

"No, no no no," Chelsea insisted, patting her back apologetically. "Please don't be sorry! I just wanted to ask you about it. I mean, about who you thought I was. Aurelie, was that it?"

Claire cleared her throat and nodded. "Um, yeah. Aurelie."

"Yeah. You see—it's just that—" Chelsea sighed again and stared moodily into her tea. "I don't know if you know this, but you might, because you're good friends with Doctor Trent. But, I'm an amnesiac."

Claire could only nod again. "He—told me." Her voice dropped. "I'm so sorry…"

To her surprise, Chelsea only smiled ruefully. "Don't let it bother you; I came to terms with it long ago. I started a new life here, started over from whatever my old one was. But that's not the point I'm trying to make. I just want to know—well, you see—thing is, it wasn't the first time someone mistook me for this Aurelie girl."

Slowly, ever so slowly, Claire lowered her mug of tea. "Really?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper.

Chelsea nodded and looked up from her tea to meet Claire's eyes. "It was so long ago; I almost forgot all about it, ironically. This man…" she paused, looked away. "Do you know of the first—the original Sunny Island shipwreck?"

Claire couldn't help but snort scornfully. "I know all about it, trust me. I was on it."

"Really?" It was Chelsea's turn to be surprised. "I'm so sorry…You must have been really young."

"Five," Claire said simply. She didn't want to discuss it any more.

"Well…then, as you know, the adults mostly washed up on the shore here. And once doctors started arriving and getting things organized, we started trying to get our bearings together. That's when I hit a brick wall. But there was a man," she continued gently. "I didn't know him, never recognized him. He was big, blond, had these giant green eyes. Handsome, rugged. But he wouldn't leave me alone."

Claire stared at Chelsea, frozen. Unbeknownst to the brunette, she had just perfectly described Claire's father—but Chelsea didn't seem to notice the reaction.

"I just dismissed him entirely, because then, I was still in denial about my amnesia. It was one of those 'it wouldn't happen to me' scenarios, you know? I didn't believe a word he tried to tell me; I just thought he was some crazy guy. I was _sure _I would remember being in love."

"What did he tell you?" Claire asked, voice hushed. Chelsea laughed.

"All kinds of things. That we were married, that we had kids, that we had vowed to be together forever…everything that a girl wants to hear, you know? Especially me—I'm a hopeless romantic. And that's why I was sure he was wrong. I mean, you would expect to remember getting married to someone and starting a family—and—I just—it was too much. He was sick; very badly hurt. I visited him more out of pity than anything, once I was well enough to move around and he was still stuck in the infirmary. When I realized how sick he was, I just thought he was delirious and genuinely mistook me for his wife. He…he called me Aurelie, too, Claire."

The blonde didn't know what to say as her throat began to constrict painfully with the effort of holding in the tears threatening to spill. So—she just blurted out the first thing that came to mind: "Was his name Terrence?"

Chelsea stared right back at her. "Yes…it was."

Just as Claire felt like she was on the verge of something burgeoning and huge and crucial, the farmhouse door creaked open and heavy footsteps clomped inside. Both she and Chelsea whirled around to stare down the intruder, who stared back at them with surprised amethyst eyes.

Several moments passed in silence.

"Oh, Vaughn," Chelsea finally said heavily, as though she'd been holding her breath and exhaled on his name. She quickly stood up and gestured to Claire. "This is Claire; she's a farmer from the Mineral Town ferry. And Claire, this is my husband, Vaughn."

_Husband…?_

Claire finally recognized the tall, purple-eyed man as the monosyllabic cowboy that had given her a towel the first day on the beach—the first day she saw Chelsea. Now, she saw where little-Claire got her snowy hair. Eventually she found her voice again; it was dry, and wavered uncertainly, but it was there. "Hi—nice to meet you."

Was this the man who had replaced her father?

What had happened to her father, anyway? Was he still alive?

She was bursting at the seams with questions for Chelsea and felt a flare of impatience towards this be-Stetson'd guy for getting in the way.

"Pleasure," he returned in a rough-hewn but not unkind voice, clasping her hand briefly before wandering off to the kitchen. "Whatta ya want for dinner, Chels?"

Claire's toes curled desperately. _No! Forget dinner! Go away…please..._

"Actually," Chelsea said, abruptly pushing her chair back, "actually—I thought Claire and I might go to the diner."

.:.:::.:.

"So, who is Aurelie?"

Claire stopped fiddling with her menu and finally just put it down—she hadn't been able to focus on it anyway. Not with Chelsea sitting across the small table from her, sitting calm and cool and collected, as if she wasn't on the brink of something really big.

Who is Aurelie?

"Well, Aurelie was a lot of things," Claire began quietly, fidgeting in her seat. Her hands were sweating as she gripped the edges of her seat with such force that her knuckles turned white, and she was grateful Piper wasn't there to worry about—she'd dropped him off in the room in Elli's care. "But first and foremost—to me, anyway—Aurelie was, um…my mother."

Chelsea visibly stiffened, which made Claire flinch and lower her head. Yeah, there were probably better ways to deliver news like that; smoother methods of breaking the news to a woman you just met that she might have children she will never remember giving birth to.

"No," Chelsea finally breathed. "No. There's no way I would forget my own children. There's no way I have—an adult daughter."

The blonde winced again, her heart clenching painfully, feeling Chelsea's words like a slap in the face_._ She would _make _her believe."She was a farmer, and Terrence—my father—he was her husband. They ran a ranch together. He always looked after the animals and she looked after the plants." It was an overload of information, but Claire found herself unable to hold it back; words and memories gushed forth from where they had been locked away for so long in the back of her mind. "She was so good with crops. She had brown hair and blue eyes and sometimes she baked pies in the middle of the night just because she felt like it, but she hated cooking. She loved my dad fiercely." Here, Claire forced herself to look Chelsea in the eye. "And people always said I had her eyes."

Chelsea met Claire's level gaze for several moments before dropping it to look back at the menu, resting her forehead in one head. "Why did you come here?"

"Why did you name your daughter Claire?" Claire shot back. "Did my dad—Terrence—ever talk about his kids?"

Now, both hands massaged Chelsea's head as her posture slumped. Her answer was barely audible. "Yes."

Feeling triumphant, Claire traced the image of an ice cream sundae on her menu and waited for Chelsea to go on. With a gusty sigh, the brunette finally did just that.

"Yes, yes. All the time. He talked about how he and Aurelie—supposedly me—named their first daughter Claire because Aurelie had always liked the name. French for clear, or bright. He talked about his little girl all the time."

Claire could feel tears welling up at the image of her father, sick in bed, telling a woman who couldn't acknowledge the bond between them all about his children. He probably told anybody who stopped to listen, she realized, and the thought warmed her heart. She swallowed hard.

"I guess I—I guess the memory of that poor man still haunts me," Chelsea continued, sounding distant. "I can't forget him, even though I can forget pretty much everything else. I do like the name, and I guess I thought I was doing my part to honour him and his little girl by naming my first daughter after his."

_What if I…I'm your first daughter, too? _

Claire swallowed heavily, breathed deeply to steady herself for the question she was about to ask. "What…happened to him?"

Chelsea's head still rested in both hands as she slowly shook it and stared down the tablecloth. "He was just too sick, Claire. The doctors couldn't do a thing."

The blonde found herself unable to muster a single response. She couldn't even move her head slightly in a nod. Numb.

_You knew what you were getting into when you signed up for this. Man up. _The younger farmed jolted in surprise as she felt a warm hand give her arm a reassuring squeeze from across the table.

"Claire, I'm so sorry. I—there's no doubt in my mind that you're his daughter," Chelsea said gently. "If it helps, he told me everything about you. He was so proud of you, taking care of your baby brother and going to shore all by yourself. He could go on all night about your strength and bravery, and he would've if the doctors ever forgot to give him his sleeping pill. He loved you so much, Claire."

She felt a single tear mark a bold path down her cheek, which warmed in humiliation. _He had to tell you, remind you about your own children you had together. _Chelsea, in an innocent motherly gesture, wiped it away—and prompted two more to escape. Claire angrily dragged a sleeve under her eyes. "Goddess, this is embarrassing…I'm sorry…"

"No, I'm sorry," Chelsea cried in distress. "I didn't mean to upset you!"

Luke chose just then to arrive to take their orders; both women ordered something completely random and the ignored menus were whisked away.

"Look." Chelsea sighed, unwrapped and rewrapped her fork and knife in the silk napkin. "I appreciate you telling me who she was, but—"

"There's more to her than that," Claire interrupted. Chelsea paused for a moment and then unwrapped her cutlery again.

"Of course," she said evenly. "There's more to everyone."

"I think there's more to you, in particular, though," the blonde murmured, dropping her eyes to the white tablecloth.

"Of course. There's twenty some-odd years I'm missing. But why should I believe that those years and Aurelie's years are the same? A lot of people died in the wreck, Claire. She could easily have been one of them. And your dad…well, he could have latched onto anyone who resembled his wife, right? I just happened to be the same general age and physical type. Right?"

Claire's gaze snapped up to meet Chelsea's. "That's possible," she admitted. "But then, why would I mistake you for the same person, when there's fifteen years in between where you began and Aurelie left off?"

"That's a good question," Chelsea returned softly. "What made _you _think I was her?"

Claire sat back and chewed the inside of her lip. This was going to sound weird. "To be completely honest," she began, half-grinning, "it was your voice. It sounded so…musical. Exactly like I remember my mom's. I've never heard anyone who sounds quite like it since, so…I asked Trent about you. And he told me you were the island farmer and basically responsible for the revitalization of the island. And…I thought…that would take a special kind of talent. Almost like a Gift…you know?" Carefully, she gauged Chelsea's reaction, and felt a burst of triumph as the brunette froze. _Score—_she'd struck gold.

"A Gift?" she repeated slowly.

Claire straightened, bundling all the shreds of her courage up together. _Now._ "Do you have a necklace you wear at all times?"

Chelsea's hand flew to the collar of her shirt. "What are you insinuating?" she demanded defensively.

"Look," Claire said, dropping her voice to a controlled whisper. "I grew up in a family of Gifted. I know all the ins and outs, I know all about it, and I'm not a danger to you. Please, I promise. You can trust me."

Slowly, the brunette lowered her hand, but still eyed Claire warily. "Why should I believe anything you just told me? Why should I not think that the entire you-might-be-my-daughter-from-a-previous-life thing is an elaborate pretense and leave right now?"

The younger rancher felt her confidence fraying again—her throat tightened painfully, tears threatening to overspill. "Look at me," she said unsteadily. "I'm an emotional trainwreck. Do I really seem dangerous? I just want to know if you could be who I think you are!"

"Shhh," Chelsea murmured gently. "I'm sorry, I overreacted. You're—you're right. Look…I'm sorry. I just…well…a part of me really doesn't want to believe you. And another part of me wants desperately to hear every word you have to say."

"I have an idea," Claire began timidly. She wanted Chelsea to see Piper and his bracelet; the bracelet with the precise same purpose as Chelsea's necklace. The bracelet that came from Claire's little brother.

Proof that they could be from the same Gifted family; everyone with the Gift was interrelated in some way, after all. Goddess-born.

"I'm all for it," Chelsea immediately agreed. Within a minute, both women were packed up and out of the restaurant—and Luke sauntered over with plates of steaming food stacked high.

"Club special and…tapioca?"

No response.

"Uhh…" He craned his neck from behind the stack to find an empty table. "…Huh?"

_Nobody ever left his restaurant… _He was in a bit of an awkward situation.

"Er…anyone want a club special, two tapiocas and a Belgian waffle?"

.:.:::.:.

Claire practically ran all the way back to the hotel, Chelsea hot on her heels and burning with curiosity. Jamming her key card into the slot, she pushed the door open to find Elli, Karen, and Popuri all huddled together in the kitchen, talking hurriedly in hushed, sharp voices. They all whirled around to face Claire when she burst in.

"Claire!" Karen shrieked. "We—"

The farmer glanced to the couch. "Where's Piper? I need—"

Chaos erupted as all three—Karen, Elli, Popuri—chimed in and strained to be heard over the other. Neither Claire nor Chelsea could make out a single word.

"Could you just—" Claire began loudly, frustrated.

"EVERYONE SHUT UP!" roared Chelsea over the din.

The three girls quieted for an instant before Karen spoke up again, panicked. "Oh my Goddess, Claire, I came in to find Elli in tears and Piper—"

"Nowhere to be foooound!" Elli finished, wailing. "I'm so sorry, I just went to the bathroom and I have no idea—"

"He's gooooooone!" bawled Popuri. "We looked _everywhere _and asked _everyone—"_

"Gone?" repeated Claire, toneless, frozen in shock. Her one word reduced the others to silence.

"Oh Goddess," whispered Chelsea. "Your baby…"

"I'm so sorry," Elli sobbed, wrapping the stunned blonde in a hug. "It's all my fault, I know and I know…"

"Who…" Claire's voice caught in her throat. This could _not _be happening. First she can't take care of Benjamin, then she almost drowns Piper; he survives…to later be kidnapped.

What was wrong with her?

* * *

><p><strong>AN: D: are you angry that it was really just one long conversation? I am...but at the same time it was necessary. I hope I didn't bore anyone to tears or anything. :3**

**Anyway! Thanks for your lovely reviews and patience and support! I really can't even express how happy hearing from you makes me. And sorry for the wait! Next chapter will be better, I promise .**

**Thanks for reading!**


	15. Chapter 15

"_Damn _it." Dr. Alex sat up on his knees and kneaded his forehead, the page of test results fluttering from his loosened grasp. "I don't know, Trent. Nothing we've done has made a difference, man."

Trent stood beside his kneeling brother, staring down tiredly at the young pair lying unconscious on the makeshift cots. It was apparent they were a couple; they shared matching wedding bands with the same initials—A&N—engraved into the gold, and had been found lying on the shore together. However, the fight to stabilize them had been nothing short of an exhausting uphill battle that the medical team had been badly losing since day one. And Trent couldn't understand it—he couldn't see anything different about their condition from that of any other shipwreck victim, save that they just weren't getting any better.

"We're going to lose them," he said quietly, with reserved acceptance. It was awful and ugly and wrong, but it was true. He couldn't deny it any longer.

Alex looked up at his brother. "I've never lost anyone before," he murmured wretchedly.

Trent's gaze briefly flicked over to meet Alex's. "Me neither. I…" His throat went dry. But what could they do? He couldn't think of a single thing they could try that hadn't already failed to make a difference.

Both the young man and woman remained dehydrated, malnourished—no matter how many IVs they were stuck with—and showed signs of severe hypothermia and pneumonia, no matter the treatment they received for both. No matter how many long, sleepless nights Alex and Trent spent tending to them. No matter _anything_. They both had alarmingly abnormal and unpredictable heartbeats that could easily stop altogether any second; Trent had already used a defibrillator once on the woman to restart her frail pulse. It had been a close call and a risky one; nobody was entirely certain her body could withstand the shock. Since the night before, both had also been displaying evidence of rapidly slowing brain activity. It was, Trent knew, only a matter of time. And there wasn't even a lot of that left.

"What should we do?" Alex asked , looking regretfully back at the couple. "They can't have much longer."

The older brother released a long, drawn-out sigh as he knelt beside Alex. "I just don't understand it. It's like…"

"It's like something has already decided they have to die, and nothing we do will change anything," the younger physician supplied miserably.

Trent nodded solemnly. As ridiculous as the notion sounded, over the past few days it had seemed like some otherworldly force was pulling the couple away, regardless of what anyone did to help them. It was just so _unnatural _and absurd that their bodies would resist treatment in such an extreme manner. "I wish…we knew their names. I wish we could give them a funeral."

"I wish their family was here, or something. This is a pretty awful way to go."

"Yeah," Trent agreed quietly. "Alone. Without anybody knowing who you are or why you mattered."

The two knelt in silence for awhile, each trying desperately to come up with any last-ditch attempt to save the pallid couple standing hand in hand at death's door.

"Maybe some of the other passengers met them, knew their names," Alex murmured after several moments.

"And we could try to get in contact with the mainland—they must have logs of ticket sales or something…right? There has to be some way to get in contact with the family if something like this happens."

"Yeah…" Alex straightened and patted his brother's shoulder. "C'mon, let's go see what we can learn."

As Trent made to stand up, something glittering at the woman's neck caught his eye. "Hey, Alex—did you notice she had a necklace?"

"Hm?"

He leaned forward to pull gently at the chain; the pendant had fallen over her shoulder. As he tugged it straight, he realized that it was no ordinary pendant: a large, multi-faceted aquamarine locket hung from the thin golden chain.

Alex stood over his shoulder. "Whoa. How did we not notice that before? Open it up, maybe it has her name in it or something."

Trent placed his thumbs on either side of the locket's clasp and forced it open with effort. A few drops of seawater dribbled down his hand as he and his brother stared into the hollow of the pendant.

It contained a single photo in the right-hand half, miraculously untouched by the water, showing the young man—healthy and happy—beaming alongside the woman, who was holding a baby and smiling widely. The flowing script above the photo read, _Love you always, Nicole! _And beneath it were the words, _XOXO, Anthony and Rhys._

"Oh, man," groaned Alex. "They had a son. Oh, Goddess. What happened to the son? Nobody found any babies! So the dad must be Anthony…A&N…she's obviously Nicole…what happened to Rhys?"

Trent was barely listening to his brother's ramblings. Squinting, he brought the picture closer to his face and strained to see into the deep green eyes of the baby. "Does Rhys look familiar to you, Alex?"

.:.:::.:.

Normally, Claire wasn't the type to just sit around and agonize in her misery. She liked to think she was the get-up-and-go kind of girl, the fix-the-problem-herself type of person. The one to go, go, go until the problem was solved, the enemy lying slain at her feet, and the rearing horse ready to gallop into the sunset.

That wasn't Claire today. Claire today felt beat down by everything—beat down by _life_. _What is the point of even trying_, she mused darkly, staring into the rushing waters of the East Town ravine, _if all my efforts just end up mauled by some sadistic life-hurricane that comes tearing through?_

Claire's rearing horse, it seemed, had galloped into the sunset without her, and the enemy was giant and hulking and breathing, and very much alive—she just didn't know where. And she wasn't sure she had the energy to slay it if she did. She wished she could talk to Trent, but she knew he was busy.

Claire today, after a long, hectic day of scouring the village for any sign of the missing baby, was sitting with her chin resting on her knees on the East Town riverbank. She was tired and crying and tired of crying; her head throbbed and even her eyes were aching with a dull pain. All around her were the sounds of everyday life; housewives laughing, children running through a field. People, it seemed, without a care in the world—although Claire knew that wasn't necessarily true. The brightest smile could hide the darkest misery.

And any one of them could be hiding Piper.

Yet, Claire sighed; she knew they weren't. Her toes curled desperately in her boots as she thought of how eager they had been to help her look, to offer tips or assistance in helping her and her friends find the missing baby. All for naught.

_Who would steal a baby?_

The farmer scrunched her eyes closed as she felt them prick with the familiar sting of tears. And _Piper_, of all babies? Such a harmless, sweet, loving infant. He'd done _nothing _to deserve this! What was he doing now—was he hurt? It was his mid-evening feeding time. The kidnapper wouldn't know that. He would starve. He would starve and die and it would be all Claire's fault because she couldn't look after him, this one small, helpless baby whose boundless adoration she never deserved. She imagined him staring up at his captor with those beautiful green eyes and wondered if he was waiting for her to show up…to save him… wondered how he would grow up as a Gifted child without any guidance.

…and what if… … Claire shuddered involuntarily, reluctant to address the repugnant thought. And what if… the whole reason he had been kidnapped…was _because _he was Gifted?

Claire recalled vividly how careful her mother, a Gifted woman, had to be; how she would swell with righteous indignation and pride at the thought of having to wear the aqua necklace to contain her powers. _"I am a descendant of the Harvest Goddess," _she would snap at Terrence, when he chided her for removing it. _"Magical blood runs through my veins, and I shouldn't have to hide it."_

"_But sometimes you do, my dear," _he would tell her, with soothing, unerring patience. _"You know there are those out there who would use it—who would use you—for all the wrong reasons. And you don't want to overexert yourself. We have to be careful. You want Benjamin to wear his bracelet, don't you? So wear your necklace."_

Claire buried her face in her arms and let the tears fall freely. Then, so long ago, she had been positively wracked with jealousy at her younger brother for inheriting the power of the Goddess-born when she hadn't; the Gift appeared to be a random genetic trait in the family lines of those descended from the Goddess. Piper was like Benjamin in that way—both were from families with "magical blood", as Aurelie (Chelsea?) would say.

Because the Gift—the power to grow and influence plant and animal life, as well as the weather, to some degree—was inherited from the Goddess, all Gifted people were related, however distantly. Aurelie's great-great-grandfather, Pete, had married the Goddess, for instance, so all their descendants then had potential to inherit the Gift. But the Harvest Goddess had taken other husbands before and since. Benjamin, Piper and Aurelie's powers, while by no means common, were also not unique. There were a scant number of other Goddess-born walking the Earth.

Claire knew better than to be jealous now. She wished wildly everything were back to normal; that she were on her farm with Piper, struggling to make ends meet and wondering about her family, but spared all the heartache of her present. She would stop looking for a family for the baby and raise him herself. If only she had him again…

"Cl…Claire?"

The farmer nearly jumped out of her skin at the tiny voice whispering in her ear. Reeling backwards, she caught herself and whipped her head around to the source of the voice. There stood a tiny Harvest Sprite garbed in cerulean-blue, clasping his hands together worriedly—but it wasn't Staid.

Claire dragged a sleeve across her eyes and found her voice. "Wh-who..?"

The sprite's forehead creased. "Claire! I—I'm Ben, and I'm in charge of this area..and…and…well!" He flailed his arms helplessly. "WEFOUNDYOURMISSINGBABY!"

"Huh?" Claire's heart pounded heavily—she thought she heard 'found' and 'baby' in the same sentence. "Did you say—"

In his excitement, Ben sprinted over to the blonde and leapt into her lap. "CLAIRE! WE KNOW WHERE THE BABY IS! BUTHE'!"

Claire had already scrambled to her feet before he'd finished the last sentence, her mind racing. "Thank the _Goddess—_Ben! Where is he? ! I'll go RIGHT NOW!"

Ben spouted, "BUTTHEWITCHPRINCESS!"

"Just please show me the way!" Claire shouted impatiently, with little to no clue what the sprite had just told her. It didn't matter _who _he was with; the blonde was prepared to fight tooth and nail for him, if that's what it took. In fact…she was looking forward to it. She wanted to throw a few punches at the pathetic scumbag who had dared kidnap her baby.

"FOLLOW ME!"

She didn't need to be told twice. The farmer never spared a single thought to how ridiculous she probably looked, darting through the town erratically with her head bent slightly to follow the miniscule sprite that only she could see. Unfortunately (or fortunately, as it would be in the future), it was not to be a smooth trip; Claire quite literally ran into Trent as he walked out of the Innfirmary, staring at something he was holding.

She sort of plowed into him, actually.

"Sorry!" she called distractedly over her shoulder to the doctor after sidestepping around him to catch up with Ben.

"Hey! Wait," he cried after her, breaking into a full-out run. "Claire! I need to show you something!"

"Not now!" she shouted back, gaining distance. Trent slowed to a walk, confused, and watched her disappear over the West Town bridge to the forest.

What was so _urgent? _Trent looked down at the locket in his hand. Curling his fingers around it determinedly, he glanced back up at the forest entrance. This was important, he knew. It was a key clue to the mystery that was Piper, and the farmer had to know.

Setting his jaw, Trent strode off after her into the forest.


	16. Chapter 16

The forest felt heavy, quieted by the slow-moving summer air and shielded by the thick leafy canopy above. Dappled sunlight spilled through occasionally shifting branches as Claire crunched recklessly through the undergrowth, following the blue Island Sprite as closely as she could. Her stomach twisted and dropped in an immiscible mix of anger, weariness, hope, and foreboding—she couldn't imagine what _creature _would kidnap babies and hide out in a forest. Would she have to fight? What state would she find Piper in?

Ben scurried ahead of her, ducking under a low-hanging bough and gesturing for her to follow. Reaching out to push the branch aside, Claire gasped as she felt a large hand clasp her shoulder. Her hands curled into fists as she whirled around, ready to defend.

"Relax!" Trent exclaimed, apparently having appeared out of nowhere to the farmer. He took a half-step back and quirked an eyebrow at her. "It's just _me_. Goddess, what are y—"

"Trent?" Claire exhaled in relief on the name, making it sound forceful. She lowered her fists. "Why did you follow me?"

Trent dug around for Nicole's locket, suddenly feeling very foolish and overeager for trailing her all the way out here. "Er. I found this…necklace thing on a patient, and—don't look at me like that, I didn't _steal _it. I just wanted to show you the picture inside…" He fumbled to open the pendant.

Claire's toes curled impatiently. "A _picture? _You followed me to…Look, Trent, I'm sure it's a very nice picture and all, but I've got to…" She trailed off and turned back to the branch, worrying that Ben had already disappeared somewhere behind it and she would find herself lost in the small forest.

"No, it's—" Trent paused mid-sentence as Claire tore off through the underbrush, not showing any indication of hearing (or listening to) him. His mouth thinned into a line as his grip loosened on the locket and he slowly lowered it. The doctor fleetingly wondered if anything he said would ever matter to the blonde. Calling her name, he set off after her through the flattened path left in her wake.

All Claire could think of was seeing Piper again; being assured that he was alright. She barely registered the presence of another panting, shifting form moving alongside her in the sprawling forest. In her tunnel vision, all she could see was the blue speck that was Ben leaping over roots ahead of her. _This is my chance to set things right. _

Quite suddenly, the Sprite's fevered pace slowed and stopped. He crouched beneath a bush and peeked out furtively from under its leafy cover, as though feeling the need to be stealthy despite his small stature. This unsettled Claire—if a creature of the Goddess felt insecure, what did that mean for herself and Piper? She knelt in the dark, cool earth beside him and squinted out over the bush. Behind her, Trent got down on his hands and knees and narrowed his eyes at the clearing beyond, becoming increasingly puzzled by the second.

In the clearing, there was a house.

A small, compact house standing solitary in the forest, constructed of simple wooden beams and resting on the crest of a gently rolling hill. Lush, glossy plants of dark blue, purple, and black hues grew in abundance all the way around the hill, enclosed by a rickety old wooden fence that had seen its fair share of water damage. A lone brown teddy bear sat slumped by the front door, which was smeared with white paint, as though someone had started to repaint it and then either got distracted or given up. The curtains in the two small windows were drawn.

Claire's heart thudded in her chest. She stared at the small house on the hill, thinking it looked like a witch's house out of a fairy tale—she half-expected it to stand up on two enormous chicken legs, stretch, and settle itself back down again.

"The Witch Princess's house," Ben whispered to her. A cold sweat broke down her back; the title sounded all too familiar to the farmer; _Scarlet Eyes_. Ben stared at her intently. "You should know the name."

Claire swallowed and managed a nod. She did. But why would she turn to kidnapping babies?

The Sprite rested a tiny hand on Claire's arm. "Just because you're older now doesn't mean she's stopped posing a threat to you. She will always be a threat to your family, as long as her hatred towards the Goddess runs so deep. She has Piper now. I don't know why—but you've _got _to get him back."

Trent looked on in complete bewilderment as Claire furrowed her brow determinedly at nothing at all and gave a nod of affirmation. Suddenly, he felt completely and totally out of his league. Crouching on the damp forest ground beside a girl engrossed in a mental dialogue, not paying him a lick of attention, and out here for no apparent reason staring at some lonely-looking house—what was he _doing? _

He had no explanation.

Or desire to turn back. This girl had long ago piqued his curiosity.

Suddenly, the girl in question was on the move, crawling through the earthy peat with complete disregard to the mud stains accumulating on her knees. Alarmed, the doctor stretched out a hand to catch her elbow. "Claire, what are you—"

She immediately turned on him, eyes flashing. "_Shh!"_

Trent froze, blinked, then frowned. "Why?" he hissed. "Can you just tell me what the _hell _is going on?"

Claire wrinkled her nose and sucked on the inside of her cheek, frustrated. A small cough to her left prompted the doctor's gaze to briefly flicker that way, and his eyes widened in amazement.

There, crouched apprehensively, his body rigid, was a tiny blue-garbed…human…elf…thing. It (he?) wore a pointed cap and looked back curiously at Trent with large, childlike dark eyes. In fact, there was something entirely childish about its whole bearing, despite the tension in its muscles.

"Gah!" Trent blubbered, reeling backwards and removing his grip on Claire's elbow in the process. "What is—"

And it was gone. Claire pounced on him, one hand slapped over his mouth. "_Please_," she pleaded urgently, "you've got to _be quiet. Please_."

The tiny elf was there again, smiling at him knowingly. "'ere!" Trent exclaimed against Claire's hand, pointing. "'ere ih ih ahen!"

Claire's eyes squeezed shut as she fought to contain her temper. "That," she emitted lowly, "is Ben. He is a Harvest Sprite. Yes, they exist. You can see him because you're touching me. Now please _keep quiet_, we're all in a very delicate position here and the only way we can maintain any shadow of an advantage is if we have the element of surprise on our side."

And then, a bush to the right of them burst into flame.

.:.:::.:.

There was a gentle knock on the door. Alex stood, stretched his back, and lumbered over to answer, quickly checking a chart attached to the woman Nicole's cot as he passed.

Behind the door stood his brother's nurse. Ella—Elli? Elli. She was holding a Thermos full of steaming soup and smiling before he even met her eyes. "Hi, Alex!"

His heart gave an odd little thump. "Hello, Elli. Can I help you?"

"Not even a little. I brought this to help _you_ guys. You've both been working tirelessly and deserve something warm to eat. Knowing Trent, you've probably been subsisting off of stale toast and watery tea these past few days…"

Alex smiled tiredly. "That's fairly accurate, yes. But I'm afraid it's just me in here this afternoon. Trent's been out."

Elli blinked in surprise. "Really? Where'd he go?"

The mussy-haired doctor spread his arms in a gesture of exasperated defeat. "I haven't got a clue, honestly. But…" He eyed the soup hungrily.

Elli laughed lightly. "Of course you can still have the soup," she grinned. "It's not like I made it for Trent and was going to give you the leftovers, or something. I made it for you both." The nurse walked through the door as Alex opened it wider and invited her in.

"Well," he said, almost sheepishly as he followed her to the table, "he _has_ been the favourite here these past few days!"

Elli set down the Thermos and rolled her eyes at him. "Don't give me that. We're all Mineral Towners, and just met you. You haven't given us enough time to fall in love with you yet!"

Alex's mouth quirked in a smile at her. She had an enchanting way of wording things. "Well, how much time do you need?" he joked.

"For you?" Elli turned to look at him, closing one eye in an expression of intense appraisal. "Ehh…I'll get back to you on that. You are kinda funny looking, after all."

Alex laughed and sat down, pouring the contents of the Thermos into a plastic bowl. "Thank you, you just called Trent funny-looking too. I knew somebody out there would agree with me." He offered the Thermos to the brunette, who smiled and shook her head.

"No, thanks, I already had lunch. But yes, it runs in the family, I suppose!" She sat down opposite the man.

Alex pointed at her with his spoon. "I did, however, chance to note that you recognized me as Alex immediately. Kudos on that."

To his immense surprise, a light rosy blush instantly dusted the nurse's cheeks. She glanced awkwardly away. "Yes, well, uh…your nose tends to stand out, you must know. I could _immediately _tell."

Alex pretended not to notice her obvious discomfort, instead helping himself to a spoonful of the soup. He blinked. "This is delicious."

Elli glowed. "Really? I'm glad. I wasn't sure, because I usually forage for the ingredients, and as you know the vegetation on this island is a little different from that of other places, so I was a little worried it wouldn't turn out very well, but…" She smiled contentedly. "I'm happy it did."

Alex sat back in his seat and studied her. It was clear that she was truly very pleased with her success, and that it brought joy to others. "You're in the right profession, you know that, Elli?"

She turned suddenly very serious. "I do know. I wouldn't trade it for the world, even though I know it's not all Band-Aids and office lollipops. I know nurses…have to…" The brunette struggled for the right words. "…deal with some very tragic things, sometimes."

"You see the best and worst of life at a hospital," Alex supplied thoughtfully, continuing to swallow spoonfuls of Elli's soup. "Miracles of survival against the odds versus the inexplicable fragility of the human existence."

She nodded emphatically. "_Exactly_. And while I've never had to deal with…any of that…it's always there, in the back of your mind. Like my Grandma—" She stopped short, waving the topic away. "Anyway. What have you guys been locking yourselves away in here for so long for?"

Alex looked at her, wondering what she was about to say about her grandmother, but not about to press the subject. "Well, trying to fight the inexplicable fragility of two humans' existences, really." He gestured toward the two cots on the far side of the room, where Nicole and Anthony lay motionless, various machines blinking and beeping half-heartedly.

"Oh, dear," Elli exhaled. "They're not doing well?"

Alex shook his head. "Not at all, and we can't figure out why. No matter what we do, their conditions worsen. We think we're going to lose them soon…"

Elli didn't reply; couldn't. What was there to say? She stayed for the rest of the afternoon with Alex, poring over charts and diagrams, and making hot herbal tea.

.:.:::.:.

"Great _Goddess!"_ Trent clenched both hands around Claire's arms and thrust her roughly to the other side, placing himself between her and the burning undergrowth. Ben shrieked and covered his eyes with both hands, trembling.

"_Goddess," _gasped the farmer. She pulled herself back into a kneeling position and scrambled away from the bush, hauling Trent by his sleeve behind her. "What—"

A thin curl of smoke rose from patch of greenery she was heading towards for safety, and before her eyes the entire area went up in flaming orange tongues, licking hungrily at the air. The heat hit Claire like a physical wall as beads of sweat materialized on her face and neck. Behind her, Trent was coughing from the acrid black smoke. Panicking, she turned around to face the way she came—but immediately that route was consumed in angry fire as well.

Sweat now soaked through her shirt and her heart thundered heavily against her ribcage.

They were being forced into the clearing.

_Fine, _Claire hissed internally. _We'll do this your way. _

Swallowing her fears, reservations and many doubts, the blonde farmer stepped with what she hoped was confidence through the last layer of plant matter separating the clearing from the forest, pulling the stupefied doctor after her. All at once, the ring of greenery around them erupted in flame.

They were closed in, for better or worse.

Claire slowly raked her eyes up over the hill of dark-hued plants until they came to rest on a solitary dusky figure standing poised outside the lonely house, her legs spread and her hands on her hips in an authoritative stance.

But Claire didn't notice any of that, nor the woman's mane of unruly golden hair, nor the second teddy bear that appeared with her arrival on the doorstep. She also didn't notice the storm clouds gathering overhead, beginning to drown away the fires with a light drizzle.

All she could see were the piercing scarlet eyes of her childhood nightmares, scowling back at her.

"Will you bloody Goddess-born never learn to just get out of my life?" she snarled.

In that instant, all the terror remaining in Claire hardened to outrage. Advancing furiously towards the witch, she abandoned all sense of tact or self-preservation. She was going to _destroy _this abominable being, for every wrong she had ever done Claire's family and anyone else's. "_You."_

Trent, seeming to sense her dark motives, raced after her and threw his arms around her from behind, stopping her. "Claire! What are you _doing? _What the _hell _is going on?"

Claire barely registered the doctor's restraints, struggling distractedly and spitting to the witch, "_Us _in _your _life? ! For all my life it's always been _you _screwing around, disrupting and ruining _our _existence! _You're _the reason my mother always had to hide herself! We lived in _fear of you!_" She stomped forward up the steps as Trent's confusion slackened his grip, and suddenly stopped short, mere feet from the appalled Witch Princess's doorstep. "I bet the whole reason we moved around so much was to _get away from you! _And you have the _stupidity and the gall _to victimize yourself? That's _pathetic."_

Claire stood there, panting in exhaustion and fury, and glared at the stunned witch. In the silence that followed her outburst, a baby's cry could be heard from inside the house. The farmer's vigor was renewed.

"And now you stoop to kidnapping babies that have already lost their freaking parents!" Claire strode right up to the Witch's face. "You are a low, pathetic excuse for a person. It's no wonder you have nobody and live out in this bloody secluded jungle _by yourself." _Her voice lowered dangerously._ "_Now get out of my way and let me take my baby back."

The Witch didn't move. Claire shouldered her aside and barged into her house, and was soon overwhelmed by teddy bears and the colour pink.

Teddy bears littered the floor, were propped up in every available space, blanketed the pink bed, sat in windowsills, on chairs, sofas—everywhere. But most importantly, they decorated the rail of a small pink crib. Claire tore off towards it immediately and scooped up the squalling little boy inside.

She hugged him tightly to her chest, apologizing for failing him and promising it would never happen again. Only the door slamming shut called away her attention.

The Witch Princess stood there, ruby eyes storming, taut with rage after apparently having regained her senses. She gripped a deathly still Trent by the elbow as her lip curled in contempt at Claire. "Leave this place, you stupid clueless _mortal, _and leave me the kid. You have no idea what you're getting yourself into. Take your even more clueless boy toy with you."

"I'll be happy to," Claire snarled, "but I'm taking Piper with me. I don't know what made you decide to start ruining lives again after so many years of peace out of you, but I'm not letting you ruin his life."

Furious, the Witch thrust the blank-looking doctor towards Claire. He stumbled a few steps and then fell to the floor in a crumpled heap of messy black hair and wrinkled lab coat. Claire muttered a few choice words at the blonde woman before her and ran towards him, rolling him over to one side by his shoulder.

"_Trent?" _He stared blankly up. "Did you _kill him?_" the farmer shrieked, panic raining hot chaos in her fevered mind.

"No," the Witch answered indifferently, her mood swinging from steaming rage to chilled apathy. "I just messed in his head a little bit. Dragging his body out would only slow you down. Now _leave! _Have I not made it clear you're in a hostile environment here?"

Trent suddenly emitted a loud, heavy groan, and pressed the palm of a hand to his temple. Claire helped him sit up. "Are you okay? How do you feel? I'm so sorry, Trent...I should have told you to turn back…"

Strangely, the Witch Princess watched their interactions silently and without comment. She didn't interfere as Claire swung Trent's arm across her shoulders and helped the man stand, bearing a significant portion of his weight to the best of her ability, as he carefully cradled Piper in his other arm. She swallowed as they made their way painfully towards the door, flinching under her gaze, expecting her to have another dangerous fiery outburst.

"I…I wasn't always alone, you know," she said suddenly, her voice soft and vulnerable. "I wasn't always…pathetic."

Claire froze mid-step, eyeing her warily, and inched protectively in front of Trent and Piper. If the Witch Princess thought she would lower her guard to some display of innocence, she was sadly mistaken. Claire knew the scarlet-eyed woman was anything but innocent.

"I used to have love…too." The Witch glanced around briefly at her room and wiped her hands on her dark skirt. "I…" She focused on Claire. "I loved…your father."

The farmer stared back in shock, then reminded herself that the Witch Princess was capable of saying anything. Anything to give Claire pause, anything to catch her off-guard.

"Well that's too bad," she said icily. "Because he loved Mom."

The Witch Princess's eyes flashed dangerously. "Not at first, he didn't," she said, her voice venom. "At first, when he lived in Forget-Me-Not Valley, he loved me. He loved _us. _I would have done anything for him, anything to keep him. And when your mother showed up…he betrayed me. So I did whatever it took…to get him back. That cursed _Goddess-born woman."_

The walls of the house then exploded in fire. Claire screamed and Trent dragged them both to the floor, panting still. The Witch stood in front of the burning door, her hair drifting and crackling in its intense heat, seemingly unfazed, and watched them cower mournfully.

"He left the Valley then," she continued, the anger drained from her voice and the fires dying down. "Left after…you were born. Until then I only tormented the animals on the farm, cursed the town with bad luck, and…made that wretched woman miserable. But after you were born…I burned something down. He left after that."

Claire gasped for air and felt Trent's hand tighten on her shoulder reassuringly. She glanced behind her to check on him and Piper, and he nodded back. They were doing alright.

"How could I not follow him?" the Witch continued, her voice rising as if she'd been asked an accusing question. Claire flinched, afraid something else would be set alight, but to her relief nothing was. "He may have abandoned me, but I still loved him. Hated him for it, but loved him. Hated Aurelie. Hated that bleeding Harvest Goddess and all her simpering descendants more than ever, but I still loved Terrence. You traveled all over the globe trying to escape my wrath, but I always found you in the end. _Always. _He underestimated everything I did, _always_. Underestimated my love and my anger…"

"Why…" Claire's voice cracked from the dryness of her throat. "What…did you hope to gain…from torturing us…?"

The Witch didn't seem to register the question. She gazed off at the far wall of her house and watched as the charred wood replenished itself.

"Do you know how rare it is—how _beautiful_—to find a person you love that loves you back? Do you know how special it is? Lots of people seem to find it so easily, but think about it—of all the people in the world, you know a very tiny proportion, even if you're immortal. And of those people, circumstances in life have allowed you to meet one you can share that unique bond with. A bond of mind and heart, whether you're like two peas in a pod or as different as night and day. How lucky is that, really? You gotta cherish it, fight for it, protect it, and never let anyone else take it away from you."

Neither Claire nor Trent could fathom a reply for several silent seconds until Trent piped up, his voice hoarse and gravelly, "You've…had some time to think about this."

"Let us leave," Claire pleaded quietly.

"Leave the baby," the Witch insisted distantly.

Claire's voice rose. "What has _Piper _got to do with anything? Why did you steal him? Give him back to me and we'll leave you alone, I promise!"

"I don't want to be alone," the Witch said softly. "I want to make amends. I've done terrible wrongs."

Trent's grip on both Claire and Piper tightened. "Why would keeping the baby change any of that? Just let us go."

"It's my fault he was orphaned." She turned her calm gaze on Claire. "It's my fault you were orphaned, too. Everything is my fault."

Claire frowned, confused. "No, it was a shipwreck…"

Trent, seeing his chance, suddenly began digging around in his pocket and finally produced Nicole's locket. "Claire, look. This is what I wanted to show you." He popped it open and passed it up to her as the witch looked on wordlessly. "We found it on one of the shipwreck victims. Both she and her husband are comatose and dying."

"This looks like…" Claire murmured, turning the aquamarine locket over in her hand and mentally comparing it to Benjamin's old Gifted baby bracelet. It looked a lot like the power-hiding necklace Aurelie used to wear and Chelsea probably wore as well. Finally, she glanced at the family photograph stuck inside, and immediately recognized Piper in his mother's arms. "Oh…oh my Goddess…"

Two shipwrecks tearing Gifted families apart, both near Sunny Island. Where the Witch Princess lived.

"When Benjamin was born," the Witch began sorrowfully, "I realized…I had no chance with Terrence anymore. He was completely happy with his new family, so I…I hid myself away. Here." She paused, stuck somewhere fifteen or more years in the past. "But Terrence and Aurelie relocated anyway…when their ship passed Sunny Island, I couldn't help but…feel the rage again. I…caused a tempest…hoping to do away with Aurelie and her children…but…" the Witch's voice broke and she sank to her knees, trembling. "But I messed up…so many people died…I can still hear them screaming in the night. But my magic was spent to help them. And everybody in your family survived except…the only one I wanted. He died because of me. It was my fault. I…"

Claire was frozen. She wondered how many times in a day you could be stunned speechless before the effect got old and nothing more could surprise you. A stifled sob dragged her out of her numbed fog, and she realized that the powerful and terrifying Witch Princess, the tempest-slinger and haunter of childhood nightmares, the woman who forever changed her life and robbed her of her family, was crying.

The farmer couldn't decide how she felt. Angry? She would be justified in her anger; the woman had done far more to harm her than she had ever imagined. Yet, she couldn't help but feel a flicker of compassion for the lonely, broken, hateful creature slumped in the throes of remorse in her own doorway. She may have been responsible for so many lives, but she'd have to live with her mistakes—and herself—for time immemorial.

"Did you cause the second sea storm too?" Trent asked tonelessly. Claire wondered if he was as conflicted as she felt.

The Witch was rubbing her eyes. "Yes," she hiccupped. "I sensed…Goddess-born again." She glanced up in a sudden flare of wild fury. "It's all because of Goddess-born!" Then she slumped, her energy spent. Her chin quivered slightly, making her seem so small and pitiable. "No…it isn't really. It's okay if you hate me, Claire. I hate me too."


End file.
